Ryou's School Life
by Annzy Bananzy
Summary: Under special circumstances, Ryou Bakura has to pretend to be a girl for his freshmen year. Full summary inside.
1. Girl?

Pilot chapter. I'm not going to continue this story unless people like it. I'm already swamped with homework, extra-curricular activities, and my other Yu-Gi-Oh! Fanfic.

Summary: Under special circumstances, Ryou Bakura has to pretend to be a girl for his freshmen year, but what happens when boys and girls alike start hitting on him? Will the -never-tells-lies Ryou be able to handle it? And what happens when he starts to fall for a boy who thinks he's a girl? Thiefshipping _**VS**_ Angstshipping _**VS**_ Tendershipping.

* * *

Chapter 1: Girl?

_Oh dear… I'm lost,_ Ryou Bakura thought to himself as he wandered around his new school aimlessly. He sighed, usually he was very good with directions, but he had been thinking about other things too much, and wasn't paying attention to where he was going. And, since this was a new school building, he had no idea how the rooms were arranged, so the room numbers were no help. He figured if he kept walking he would get out eventually, but he couldn't help but feel just a small note of panic. Especially since it was after school and the building was deserted, giving the school a slightly creepy air.

Ryou sighed, remembering why he was here in the first place. The principal, Mr. Kannibal(1), had told him that he could come and check out the school anytime he wanted before he actually started. Since he was going to be coming into the middle of the term, the principal figured he should get to know his surroundings, and Ryou had figured that was a good idea, but he didn't want to meet any of his classmates just yet, so he came after school.

Anyway, he continued to walk around, all the while telling himself he needed to get a cell phone for emergencies like this, until he came to an interesting painting on the wall. It was a painting of the school building with a rainbow over it. Ryou smiled, he loved rainbows, they were so magnificent and fragile and, unreal! If anyone ever asked what his favorite color was, he would answer back with, "Rainbow colored." He didn't care how many laughs he got, it actually kind of saddened him that not everyone could enjoy the beauty that was the rainbow, besides, everyone had _something _about them that was laughable.

After he was done admiring the rainbow, he started walking again. He looked around the building. It was a pretty nice-looking building. The walls were some shade of yellow, and the doors appeared to be made of a type of metal, usually painted blue or red, although, there was one exception. The guidance counselor's door was a light green, and Ryou had an idea why too. It is said that green calms you, although, there are so many different color-and-mood charts that Ryou gave up on trying that out at home. And believe him, he_ had_ tried, but it hadn't seem to work that well.

He peeked into the guidance counselors room and smiled. The ceiling was sky blue with puffy, cheerfully white clouds. Where the floor met the walls, realistic grass had been painted there, and there was a grassy green carpet in the room with many comfortable-looking couches and chairs. There was even a minnie-fridge. Ryou couldn't help but giggle, apparently this guidance counselor wanted people to feel comfortable around him.

He backed out of the counselor's room, and continued his directionless tour around his new high school.

He briefly wondered if he'd like it here, he had a little trouble making friends because he was shy, but once he became your friend, he was the best friend you could hope for. If you had a problem, you could always go to Ryou Bakura for help. Not only would he help you, but he would do it gladly, all the while taking your feelings into consideration. He was a very nice person, as anyone who's ever met Ryou would tell you.

He continued to look around the school, _You think I would have come to an exit by now…_ he thoughts before he heard a female voice say, "Hey!" behind him. He was glad it wasn't dark, or else his heart surely would have beat right out of his chest when he had heard her speak, instead, Ryou froze, and turned around slowly. He saw a girl with short brown hair and cheerful brown eyes meet him. She looked to be about his age, and she seemed very friendly. Ryou smiled, which the beauty of it shocked the girl to some degree, and he asked politely, "Hello, I'm afraid I'm a little lost, could you help me find the exit?"

The girl smiled at him, "You must be one of the new students coming in!" she said excitedly.

"Yes, yes I am."

She squealed. "It's so good to see a new girl coming into school! I know we'll be great friends!" Ryou's eyes widened in shock, _She thinks I'm a girl!_ He sweat dropped, thinking that maybe he should cut his hair. For he had a long mane of white hair that poked out at different areas, and people have told him many times that he should cut it lest someone mistake him for a girl. He had always told them that would never happen, that no one could mistake him for a girl, but that exact thing had just happened.

"Actually," he began, "I'm not a g -"

"My name is Mazaki Anzu by the way," Anzu interrupted, "What's yours?"

"Um… my name is Bakura Ryou."

She nodded, "Nice to meet you Bakura-san! OH!" her eyes lit up, "Before you leave, you should come with me to the Girl's Club meeting!"

"G-girl's Club meeting?" Ryou had never heard of such a thing, but, then again, he was a boy…

"Yeah! A couple years ago, some girls came up with this club where girls hang out after school in the locker room to just, talk!"

"Talk?"

"Yeah! Talk about anything you want, although, sometimes they have set topics, but if it's really important, you can always share. Want to come?"

Ryou was about to refuse politely by saying that he was actually a boy, when he heard footsteps behind him.

"Anzu-chan?" he heard a mature-sounding girl ask, "Who's this?"

"Ah! Mai-chan!" Anzu said, "This is one of the new students, Bakura Ryou. I just asked her if she wanted to come to the girls meeting."

"Ah," Mai said, her voice was steady, making her sound much older than she actually was, "Good idea, we could always use new members." She walked into Ryou's sight. She had wavy golden hair and was very attractive. Although, this was lost on Ryou, who tended not to be attracted to anyone until he got to know them and their personality better.

Ryou looked from girl to girl. Everything was happening so fast… He opened his mouth again to explain that he was actually a boy, but Mai (2) grabbed his hand and said, "Come on! I promise you'll have fun. I'm Kujaku Mai by the way."

So before Ryou knew what was happening he was being dragged into the girl's locker room. He tried speaking and explaining that he wasn't a girl, but the shock and the rush of how things had suddenly spiraled our of control made it impossible for him to speak. And this task proved even more difficult once he was inside the girl's locker room, his face even turned a bit red. This was something that was forbidden, and he was doing it!

The girls led him inside, and when they got into what he thought was the middle of the room, he saw a bunch of girls sitting in a circle. They all turned and smiled, "Hey Mai! Anzu!" one girl said, "Who's this one?"

"This is Bakura Ryou, she's one of the new students!"

Ryou opened his mouth to quickly explain that he was a boy, but Mai clapped him on the back, making his voice falter, "Yep," she said, "We saw her just wandering the halls all by herself, were you lonely?"

"Um… No, not really… actually, I'm -"

"Sugoi!" a girl with short black hair said in a quiet, amazed voice, "I could never wander the halls by myself, I would be too scared!" she had her hands clasped together under her chin and her face looked a little scared as well. All the girls laughed, then Mai said, "That's Sagaki Anai. She's very shy and scared of a lot of things."

"But some things are just so scary!" she retaliated.

Ryou found himself giggling, "That's okay," he said, "We all have things we are scared of, I myself am scared of -" he cut himself off, and his face started to turn red.

Mai raised an eyebrow, "Oh? What's this?" she grabbed Ryou's chin and looked into his eyes, "And just what is little Bakura-san afraid of?"

"Ah, nothing! Forget I said anything!"

"But that's the point of the Girl's Club!" Anzu told Ryou, "So we can talk about our problems in confidence."

"Now now Anzu, some things are just a little too personal," Mai said, "We all have things we don't want anyone to know," she looked at Ryou with a kind smile, "You don't have to tell if you don't want, but please, stay for the meeting, okay?"

"Uh," what could Ryou say? At this point, if he tried telling them he was a boy, what would they even do? Besides, he could just explain tomorrow, explain that it was just too awkward of a situation and he didn't want to say anything, yeah, that's what he'd do, "Um, sure, why not…" he said before Mai gestured him to sit down next to Anai. He smiled at her, and her face went a little pink, and she turned her head away. Ryou was a little confused, especially when he heard snickering around the table, which didn't help Anai much. Anzu cleared her throat, making the other girls stop their snickering.

"Now then," she said, clearly disappointed by the girl's behavior, "We have a new member! So, we'll all go around the circle and give our name and a little information about ourselves. Ryou, would you like to start?"

"Eh," Ryou was surprised, "Um, sure. My name is Bakura Ryou, and I like to cook, especially sweets." Usually he wouldn't tell people that, but he figured, 'why not? Girls won't make fun of me for cooking unlike most boys.' In fact, a lot of girls just smiled, and the other girl next to him said, "I know! Cooking is so fun right? Ugh, if only I could find a boy who shared my love for cooking," she looked up at the ceiling wistfully to show how much she wanted this. She had long black hair that went down to her waist. She turned to Ryou, "I'm Hatsuya Kanata, but I won't respond to anything other than Kana-chan, so remember that."

Ryou nodded, "Okay, I'll remember." They each took a turn around the circle, and Ryou learned a lot about people. They all had something somewhat interesting to say, and Ryou found himself starting to have fun. This is what separated him from other boys. He was pretty much trapped in this room with at least ten girls and hadn't thought one dirty thought, that was what most girls liked about him when they got to know him better. In fact, you could probably call him a little dense when it came to that sort of thing. He would not get the inappropriate jokes guys and gals constantly made unless someone told him directly what they were talking about, but then he would usually get a nosebleed and have to go away for a while, so after a few times, he just stopped asking what they were referring to, it was better for his health, and the other people stopped telling him what they meant too. They didn't want to see someone so innocent get messed up like they already had been.

Anyway, after a minute or two, it came around to Anai. She blushed, "I'm Sagaki Anai, and, I um…"

"Go ahead girl! Let it out!" one girl said.

Anai blushed harder, and then said, "I… I, um… I really like chocolate!" she let it out in a rush. A few girls burst out laughing, and Anai blushed more furiously. Now, Ryou might be dense, but he could still read people's emotions fairly well, and he could tell that Anai had wanted to say something else. He smiled at her again, "That's not what you meant to say, was it?"

"Ah," she looked at Ryou, who noticed that the laughing girls quieted down and were hanging on to their every word, "I um… no, it wasn't… but it's still true! I really love chocolate!"

Ryou smiled kindly at her, "It's okay, since you don't want to tell me about whatever it is. I really like chocolate too." Anai's face turned into a tomato, which made the girls start laughing again, but just made Ryou even more confused, _Maybe she really _is_ just too shy…_ he thought, but then Anzu cleared her throat again.

"You're all acting like children!" she yelled, although she was struggling not to laugh too.

Kana-chan patted Anai on the shoulder, "We're sorry An-chan, you know we love ya girl!"

She nodded vigorously.

"Now," Anzu said, "What had we been talking about before I left?" With this, Ryou got the impression that Anzu was the leader, even though Mai looked older. One girl raised her hand to answer Anzu, "Yes," she called on a girl with medium length, curly blonde hair, "Mandai-chan, what was it?"

"We weren't really talking about anything, just said whatever was bothering us. Hanamia Amora was the last to talk."

"What did she say?"

A girl with wavy auburn hair stood up, "I was just talking about how we should have lookouts for gym class. I saw _another_ boy trying to peek in here!" she growled in frustration, "I absolutely _hate_ boys who try to get inside the girl's locker room, _hate them._" Ryou gulped.

Anzu laughed, "Are you sure you're not just hallucinating? No guy would ever _dare_ to look in here, not after what happened to the last guy." The girls chuckled, and Ryou pales, wondering what the heck happened to the last guy, but then Anai said quietly, "He had to be in the hospital for a month." Ryou turned so white, he could've blended in with Antarctica.

Amora sighed happily, "Ah yes, I remember that. The week suspension I got was totally worth it."

"I still can't believe you only got a _week_ suspension. I mean, when that guy came back to school he _still_ had a broken arm," Kana-chan said.

Amora shrugged, "Justice is a dish best served with pain." She looked at everyone, "Besides, you don't see any _girls_ trying to look in the _boys_ locker room, do you?" Her eyes glanced over Ryou who looked a little guilty, and afraid that he would be in the hospital for a month, or maybe even more! Amora's eyes widened, "Bakura-san," she said slowly, "Have you been in the boy's locker room?"

"Uh -"

"You have!" she screamed, "I don't believe this! Why did you do it?"

"I-it was an accident!" Ryou finally said, only he was referring to his situation now, "I didn't _mean_ to, I just got lost, and then I ended up in there…"

Anzu looked at him, "What did the boys do?"

"Did you have to put on the tears?" Kana-chan asked.

"Um, actually," Ryou said, thinking quickly, "They thought I was a boy…"

Everyone stared at him with wide eyes, "They thought you were a _boy?_" Amora asked, "Were they mental?"

"Uh, well, I was new in school, and they just thought I was a boy…" Ryou hoped that if he told everyone this story, then he could explain his situation better and tell them how it was actually reversed.

"So they didn't do _anything_ to you? They never found out?"

"Uh, well, I tried telling them, but they kept interrupting me…"

"So, did they ever find out you were a girl?"

"Um, no… You see -"

"Waoh, woah, WOAH!" Amora interrupted, trying to make sense of something, "So, you had to pretend to be a boy for an entire _year?_"

"Um," Ryou said, having the sense that everything was spiraling out of control, fast, "Yeah…"

"That must have been hard," Kana-chan said, "I couldn't handle pretending to be a boy, they're just so different from us."

"How did you handle it?" Mai finally said something since Ryou had told them his 'story.'

"Um, I just, kept a low profile, and, observed their behavior," Ryou felt horrible about lying to all of these girls, but he did _not_ want to be hospitalized.

Mai nodded, "Impressive." She looked away, as if deep in thought.

One of the girls raised her eyebrow at Mai's comment, "Impressive?" she said, "How is that impressive?"

"Think about it, could any of _you_ pretend to be the opposite sex for an entire year?"

Everyone was quiet, Mai turned to Ryou again, "You should try out for the school plays if you're that good of an actress."

"Oh!' Ryou said, slightly embarrassed, "I could never go up there in front of everyone, besides, I don't have a good voice…"

Mai raised her eyebrow, "Ah, I see." She stopped talking. Ryou wanted nothing more than to run out of that room right now, but that would look suspicious…

"Anyway," Amora said, "I still think we should have lookouts, because my mom wants me to try and be more girly, and that means not getting into any fights," she rolled her eyes, "_And_ she wants me to wear," she scrunched up her eyebrows, "_skirts_ to school! Can you believe that? You guys all know how much I hate skirts!"

Everyone nodded, "Of course," Amora said, "I _will_ beat up any boy who looks in here, I don't care if I get expelled."

Ryou had a sick feeling in his stomach, and he couldn't stop thinking about him in a hospital bed with a blood packed hooked up into his arm…

* * *

Ryou took out the key to his house from his coat pocket and stuck it into his lock. He opened the door, closed it behind him and immediately plopped down on the couch next to his twin brother, Bakura Bakura, who was watching television.

Now, I know what you're thinking, 'Bakura Bakura? That's a weird name,' but you see, his parents thought it would be funny, because then you don't know if he's being called by his first name or his last, and Bakura was proud of his odd name, it made him unique, which he liked being.

Bakura raised an eyebrow, "What happened to you? You look exhausted."

"I _am_ exhausted," Ryou answered back.

"I thought you were just going to look around our new school?"

"I did, but then something happened."

Bakura chuckled, "What? Did your hair get caught in a door or something?"

Ryou sighed, "No, but I met someone there -"

"And you immediately fell head over heels?" Bakura offered.

Ryou sighed and started rubbing his temples, "No, I told you, I'm just not the type to do that. I met a girl who thought that I was a girl."

Bakura was shocked at first, then he cracked a grin and started laughing like a maniac, "Sh-she thought you were a g-girl? That's hilarious!"

"It's not that funny!" Ryou raised his voice slightly.

"I wish I had seen the look on her face when you told her you were a boy!" he kept laughing, but soon stopped when he realized Ryou wasn't saying anything. He muted the TV, "Ryou," he said slowly, "You _did_ tell her that you were a boy, right?"

"Um, it might have slipped my mind…"

"_Slipped_ your _mind_?" Bakura said incredulously, "How can something like that slip your mind?"

"Well, I tried explaining, but then this other girl came and then I was in the girl's locker room -"

"Girl's locker room?"

"- and then I was at this Girl's Club meeting -"

"_Girl's Club meeting?_"

"- and I don't want to end up in the hospital!" Ryou finished.

"_Hospital?_" Bakura stared at his slightly younger brother, "Okay, start from the beginning before I strangle you in frustration."

Ryou sighed, and started to explain exactly what had happened.

By the end, Bakura was closing his eyes and staying absolutely still. "You _do_ know you can't keep this up right?"

"Sure I can," Ryou replied.

Bakura glared at Ryou, "No you can't Ryou! If everyone thinks you're a girl, they're gonna think it's weird for a girl-and-boy twins to look identical! They'll know something is up, and I will not have my reputation ruined by you."

"No one really cares about that sort of thing Bakura, and I promise I won't 'ruin your reputation' of being a 'bad boy.'"

Bakura smirked, "You bet'ya I'm bad, and the ladies love the bad boys," his eyes widened as he realized something else, "Ryou, if you're a girl, you can't date girls."

"So?" Ryou countered. Honestly, he didn't feel like dating anyone right now, of course you wouldn't too after your last girlfriend brutally ripped out your heart and stopped on it several times.

Bakura sighed, he knew about Ryou's last girlfriend. In fact, he had broken one of her arms for doing that to his baby brother, but she had told everyone she had just fallen down some stairs, because Bakura had told her if she tattled then he would brake her other arm and a leg, and she knew he meant it too. Bakura looked at Ryou, and tried to think of something else that would get him to tell those girls that he was a boy. "If you're a girl," Bakura said slowly, trying to think of something fast, "Then guys might start hitting on you," Bakura finally said, sure he had hit a winner.

"I can handle it. Besides," he looked at his older brother with puppy-dog eyes, "My big brother will protect me, right?"

Bakura scowled, "Only if it gets _too_ out of hand," he said, since he knew he was overprotective of Ryou, and he guessed Ryou knew it too.

That wasn't necessarily a good thing.

Ryou smiled brightly, "See? I can pull this off."

Bakura sighed, "Ryou, you can't even handle _little_ lies. How are you going to handle one this big?"

"I'm sure you'll help me, right?" Ryou asked, pulling out the puppy eyes again.

"Dang it Ryou," Bakura said closing his eyes, "Put those things away! I swear, one of these days you're going to get yourself molested with those eyes," Bakura scowled. Ryou had one of the most beautiful set of eyes in the world, and that wasn't exactly a comforting thought for an overprotective brother to have.

"Ryou," Bakura said, angry now, "you are _not_ going to pretend to be a girl for your freshman year!"

"Why not?"

"Because," Bakura said, frustrated, "Because you're not a girl!"

"Well deal with it! It's my life and I'll live it any way I want!" Ryou was starting to get angry again. He just didn't want to tell all those girls that he was a boy, could he get expelled for going inside the girl's locker room? And what would they do? Would they kill him? He didn't want to think about it…

Ryou sighed, "Let's not talk about this anymore, you know I hate fighting."

"Then come Monday morning, you tell those girls that you're actually a _boy_."

"I don't want to get sent to the hospital!"

"Well, if that tough girl tries anything, I'll just beat _her_ up."

"But," Ryou said, but then he stopped.

Bakura sighed, "But _what_ Ryou?"

Ryou looked down, "I don't want you to get expelled either…" Bakura sighed, _Dang it Ryou…_ he thought, _Why do you have to be so, so, __**difficult**__?_

Bakura sighed, "Fine, I guess I have a younger sister now."

Ryou smiled, "Thanks 'Kura!"

Bakura smirked, partly from the usage of his child nickname, but mostly because of what he was about to say next, "But you can expect a hell of a lot more teasing from now on, in case you act _too_ girly."

"Oh… right…" That didn't necessarily make Ryou feel any better.

* * *

~~~School Morning!~~~

Ryou and Bakura were walking to school. They couldn't drive yet, and no one was there to drive them, so they usually just ended up walking. Not that they minded. For Bakura, it was fun to try and trip the people they passed, and for Ryou, he just liked the new scenery here.

Despite Ryou's calm exterior, inside he was wondering if he could even act like a girl for a week, let alone all _year._ He gulped again, and it didn't help much when he thought about all the people he would be lying to. _Maybe I should just say I'm a boy and take the beating…_ Ryou thought, but then decided that wasn't a good idea, he couldn't afford to miss a month of school…

As he walked into the school building, his feet felt as heavy as lead, and he felt like he would throw up, he stopped dead in his tracks and stared up at the tall red-brick building. His face began to pale, and Bakura rolled his eyes. He patted Ryou on the back, "Come on Ryou," he said, "It won't be that bad, it's only the most important year of your life that you have to pretend to be a girl. It's really not that bad."

Ryou looked at his older brother, "Bakura," he said, his voice had gone hoarse, "Why do you have to be so mean?"

Bakura smirked, "It's just the way I am, but seriously, don't worry. It'll be fine, since you're a girl you won't get beaten up by bullies anymore. All you have to worry about is strong-willed boys who will - on second thought, be on your guard all the time."

Ryou groaned. Bakura snickered, "Don't worry, I'll protect you from those I suppose, but you'll owe me."

Ryou looked at him, "How much?"

"3rd level." Ryou smiled, that wasn't so bad. You see, Bakura had a weird idea of "owing" someone. He had five levels of owing people.

On the first level, the favor owed isn't that important and you probably won't even have to pay the person back for it.

On the second level, the favor owed is kind of important and must be repaid whenever the man you owe sees fit. Usually within the month or by the end of the year.

On the third level, the favor owed is important and _must_ be paid back anytime, anywhere.

On the fourth level, the favor owed is _very_ important, and usually you can't pay the person back until _years_ later.

On the fifth level, the favor owed is _extremely_ important, and you might possibly never be able to get out of 'debt,' and will have to do many little favors throughout your life to make up for it.

For all of these, the favor owed must be of equal value as the favor given before, fifth being the highest obviously, in fact, a lot of people owe Bakura a fifth-level favor. Ryou remembered when the teachers at school thought Bakura had enslaved the other kids when in actuality they just owed him a level five favor.

What exactly did you do to get a level five favor? Well.. Maybe you'll find out later.

Anyway, since Ryou only owed Bakura a level three, he didn't have to worry about that much.

He swallowed down his fears and walked inside the building.

* * *

(1): Pronounced KAH-knee-ball, not cannibal.

(2): I originally typed "Marik," and then later fixed it back into "Mai." XD Also, I reduced Mai's age here, obviously.

Soooo, who wants to know my plan for how the Tendershipping would work without incest? Cause I actually have a plan… However, like I said in the summary, it's Thief _**VS**_ Angst _**VS**_ Tender. I have no idea which one it's going to be… ^_^"

Review if you liked it! Or not, don't really care… ^^ No one can ruin my good mood. Especially since I've been listening to Disney songs for like three hours XD I love Disney!

If I decide to do a second chapter, Marik will be in it, but I wouldn't count on another chapter for a while… ^^" Unless I get, like, a ton of reviews, then I'll think about it…


	2. First Day

… I apologize for the lack of update for… months TT_TT but as I had said before, I am very busy with stuff… Hope you like this chapter! (It's so long…)

Chapter 2: First Day as a Girl

* * *

Ryou and Bakura walked through the halls, only this time it didn't seem quite so creepy as it had for Ryou before. This was thanks to the fact that the halls were filled with people mingling, complaining about homework, making after school or weekend plans, etc. Ryou and Bakura bypassed it all, seeing as they had no one to talk to, but they did get a few looks and people started whispering into others ears, but it didn't go dead silent no. It sounded just like a typical school hallway only with an undertone of hushed whispering. Ryou looked around and noticed that only a few girls were wearing skirts. He had worried about this, he was wondering if the girls would question him for wearing pants, but it seemed like almost everyone did that. Ryou exhaled in gladness that his school didn't have a uniform.

They found their lockers right away, and Bakura insisted on having locker number 101, simply because he liked that number better than 100. Ryou didn't really care what locker he got, but he did wonder who had the locker next to his, locker number 99. (Their school's locker numbers actually started from 000 and went all the way to 400. Not that they used all of them, but that's the system.) Ryou put all of his stuff into the locker and closed it. He turned around to come face to face with Anzu. "Hi Mazaki-san," he said.

"Oh please, call me Anzu," she said, "Mazaki-san sounds too professional."

"Okay Anzu-san. Oh! This is my twin brother, Bakura." Ryou gestured to his twin and Anzu turned to look.

"You never mentioned you have a twin brother!" Anzu exclaimed, "What's you first name?" she asks Bakura.

"Bakura."

When Anzu gave them a confused look, Ryou explained: "His first and last names are the same."

"Oh, that's… different."

Bakura smirked, "Different eh?" he held out his hand, "You and I are going to get along just fine." Anzu shook his hand politely, then she turned to Ryou, "Why didn't you mention you had a twin?"

"It slipped my mind," Ryou shrugged.

"A lot of things have 'slipped your mind' lately," Bakura muttered under his breath. Ryou glared at him quickly then smiled at Anzu who laughed.

"I guess it's okay, but I'm surprised you two look so alike, you even have the same hair. Have people ever mistaken you for the other?"

Ryou giggled, that was one of the questions people always asked when they learned that they were twins. Along with, "Do you have a psychic connection?" "Can you read each other's minds?" "Do you have the same dreams?" "Can you tell when the other is in trouble?" etc., etc.

"Sometimes, but usually no," Ryou said. Anzu looked at them both, and she could see why. Bakura's eyes were, for lack of a better word, _meaner_ then Ryou's. Ryou's eyes were really round and innocent and kind, but Bakura's eyes were almost a rectangle, cynical, and sarcastic.

"Where's classroom 9-B?" Ryou interrupted.

Anzu blinked, getting out of how different their eyes were, "9-B? Oh, it's down the hall, to the left. That's the classroom I'm in."

"Thanks."

Anzu smiled, "Would you mind if I introduced you to some friends of mine?"

"Not at all," Ryou said with a smile.

Anzu walked away and Ryou followed. He felt a slight tugging on his hair and turned around. "I'm going to go chat with those friendly folks over there, kay?" Bakura said, pointing to some kids that looked as if they belonged behind bars. One of them was even writing on the locker. Ryou sighed, Bakura was going to be the 'bad boy' again, couldn't he pick a different peer group to hang out with?

"Can't you just meet Anzu's friends first?"

Bakura shook his head.

Ryou stared at him, "Don't make me do it Bakura, cause you know I will."

Bakura scowled, "You wouldn't dare, not in public!"

"Oh Bakura, you doubt me? Are you sure that's wise?" Bakura's eyes widened slightly as he watched his younger brother start to pull, _the face._ The face that it was _impossible_ to say no to. The one that Bakura wished Ryou had never figured out how to do. Bakura held up his hand to shield the cute rays _the face_ sent out. "Okay, okay! I swear Ryou, you know _exactly_ how to manipulate your looks. And everyone thinks you're an innocent little child, ha!"

Ryou giggled, "I'm sure my looks only work on you Bakura, now let's meet some actually nice folks."

"Those fellas looked pretty nice," Bakura argued.

Ryou raised one eyebrow, "Really? Then you wouldn't mind if I hung out with them?"

Bakura stared at Ryou, then turned him around and pushed him in Anzu's direction, "Come along sister dear, it's time to make new friends."

Ryou laughed, and soon he came face to face with a boy with spiky black hair with gold and purple streaks inside. "Hi! My name is Mutou Yugi! You must be Ryou? Anzu told me about you."

Ryou smiled, "Yes, I'm Ryou, and this is my twin, Bakura."

Yugi nodded, "What's your first name?"

"The same," Bakura responded with a smirk. He absolutely loved confusing people, it was fun to watch their expressions.

Yugi looked at him, "Your name is Bakura Bakura?" he asked in a way where he thought they were pulling his leg.

"It's true," Ryou broke in, "Our parents thought it would be…"

"Funny, unique, different, odd, cool, did I miss an adjective Ryou?" Bakura asked.

Ryou smiled, "I think you got them all."

"… Oh, well, that certainly is… unique." Yugi said as Bakura cracked a grin. "I also have a twin, his name is Atem, he should be around here somewhere…" Yugi said looking around.

"He said he had to go get something," a tall, skinny man with brown hair that curved upward said.

"He's probably going to ditch school again," a curly haired blonde man broke in.

Yugi looked worried, "He promised he'd stop doing that!" Anzu put her hand on his shoulder, "I'm sure it'll be okay Yugi. He probably just wanted some air," she said, clearly trying to comfort him. Yugi didn't buy any of it though, and now he looked a little annoyed.

The brown haired man stepped forward, "I'm Honda Hiroto."

"And I'm Jounouchi Katsuya," the blonde haired man said.

Ryou smiled, "It's nice to meet you both!" They smiled slightly. Anzu looked around for someone, "There's one more to our group, where's Marik?"

"Marik?" Ryou asked.

"M-hm, he's usually here by now."

"That name sounds foreign," Bakura commented.

"He's from Egypt."

"Ah, that would explain it."

"There he is!" Anzu said as a tan boy walked down the hallways. He had a two-strap backpack, and was holding the straps around his shoulders like he was hiking or something. He had a black short-sleeved shirt on and a light purple sleeveless shirt over it that ended somewhere above his stomach with a hood and cargo pants. His hair was a platinum blond, and it spiked a little bit around his head. He also wore eyeliner that went down below his eye-line as well as golden earrings, golden bracelets, and a golden choker around his neck. His eyes were a beautiful shade of violet, and he had a small smile on his face. He walked right up to Ryou. "Hello there," he said. You could tell he was foreign because he had an accent, but it was very faint, "You must be this "Ryou" person I keep hearing about. My name is Ishtar Marik."

Ryou smiled, "Nice to meet you Ishtar-san! I'm Bakura Ryou."

Marik's eyes widened, "Wow! You're one of the first people to pronounce my name correctly on the first try! Most people pronounce it, "Ish-e-tar-u Marik-u." And most of the time I don't know if they're saying "Marik" or Malik" because the 'l' and the 'r' sound exactly the same here!" He smiled brightly, "It's really annoying to me when people say my name wrong."

Ryou smiled. Bakura broke in, "Ryou's an expert on pronunciation," he looked at Marik blandly, "I'm Bakura Bakura."

"Your first and last names are the same?" Marik asked. Bakura nodded. "Huh, that's weird." Bakura burst out laughing. "You're the only person I've met who actually told me that it's _weird_ instead of "unique," "different," or "cool!" You're one to say what's on his mind huh?"

Jounouchi laughed, "Are you kidding? Marik never beats around the bush! He's really dense too."

Marik glared at Jounouchi, "Says the man who doesn't even realize he's being asked out on a date until Anzu tells you "It's a date"! "

"Hey! I was just confused okay!" Jounouchi defended himself.

Marik rolled his eyes and looked at Bakura, "Yeah, I'm one to say what's on my mind. Are you and Ryou twins?"Ryou nodded, "Yeah, yeah we are."

"So, Ish-e-tar-u Marik-u," Bakura said with a smirk just to annoy Marik, "Are you going to put your backpack away or are you going to carry it around with you like a pack mule?"

Marik looked at Bakura, "Ah, I see you're one of those types who likes to annoy everybody. I warn you, it won't work on me."

Bakura raised his eyebrows, "Really now? You say that when you barely know me? Maybe I'm just one to say what's on my mind too! You should have more faith in people Ish-e-tar-u-san."

Marik's eye started to twitch, "I would prefer to _not_ get into a fight today Bakura-san. Please don't push me."

"I'll do all the pushing I want girly-boy."

Fire appeared in Marik's eyes, "_I'm_ girly? Look at your build buddy! You look just like your sister!"

"At least I don't wear eyeliner and jewelry," Bakura said, thinking that maybe he could hang with Anzu's group after all.

"It's not eyeliner! It's kohl! Lots of people in Egypt wear it."

"Keep telling yourself that."

"You wanna fight Bakura-san?" Marik asked, dropping his backpack and putting on a fighting stance.

"Bring it on Ish-e-tar-u-san!" Bakura was about to start the fight with a punch, when he felt a small tugging on his arm. It was Ryou; he looked at Bakura with sad eyes, "You said you wouldn't get into any fights this year!" he said pouting a little.

"Ryou, sometimes you have to fight -" Bakura grew silent as he stared into Ryou's pleading eyes. His eye started to twitch. "Don't give me that look!" Ryou didn't stop, if anything, he pleaded harder. Bakura felt like pulling his hair out. "Fine!" he turned to Marik, "I can't fight right now - talk to me after school."

Marik felt a smile tugging at his lips. "Oh ho! Does someone have a sister complex?" he whispered in Bakura's ear. Bakura glared, angry that Marik hit it right on the nose. He had thought that he and Marik might actually get along, but now, he was filled with a hatred so strong that there was no way they would _ever_ get along - much less become _friends_. He growled, "You watch it Ish-e-tar-u-san! You better sleep with one eye open!" he said as he took a step forward.

"I'm not scared of you Bakura!" Marik took one step forward too and now he was in Bakura's face.

"That better be my _last_ name boy!" Bakura growled right before Ryou stepped between the two. "Please stop!" he said. He looked at Bakura, "You promised Bakura! No fighting! I don't want to be kicked out of school again!" he turned to Marik, "Please stop fighting! I know my brother can be very aggravating, but please stop!" Marik stared into Ryou's eyes, finding his heartbeat increase. Ryou's face just looked so… so… _cute! _

_What's happening to me?_ Marik thought. "Okay," he said, "I'll stop." He glared at Bakura, "But this isn't over!"

"Not by a long-shot!" Bakura agree. Ryou sighed, "Great, our first day and Bakura's already made an enemy…" he mumbled under his breath.

"Wow Ishtar-san," Honda commented, "usually you're so quiet and preserved, I've never seen you get so angry before."

"That's 'cause I've never been truly angry in front of you guys."

Bakura put a hand over his heart, "You mean I'm the first person at this school to make you angry?" he said, pretending to wipe away imaginary tears with his free hand, "Why, I'm honored!"

Marik rolled his eyes, "You just can't keep quiet can you?" dislike was obvious in his voice.

"Not really, just ask Ryou."

Ryou was about to say something, when suddenly, someone who looked exactly like Yugi showed up. He seemed like a serious fellow, but he also had a mischievous glint in his eye. He smiled at Ryou and Bakura. "Hello, my name is Mutou Atem. Good to see another pair of twins in this school - me and Yugi got lonely."

"Atem!" Yugi said, obviously relieved, "I though you were going to ditch again!"

Atem laughed, "No no, you made me promise not to do that anymore," he turned to Ryou, "You must be Ryou - you're exactly as Anzu described," he looked at Bakura, "I don't remember her mentioning you though. What's your name?"

Bakura seemed a little surprised, "My first name is Bakura. How could you tell us apart so fast?"

"I'm a twin too - and she said that Ryou looked "innocent and so, so, _so __**cute!**_ And, no offense, but you're not really 'cute,' just like Yugi's cute and I'm not."

Yugi sighed, "I'm. Not. Cute."

Atem smirked, "Yeah yeah, whatever," he turned to Ryou again, "Though I must say, it's weird for fraternal twins to look so alike…" Ryou and Bakura exchanged a glance. "… Your cool level went up 500 points," Yami finished crossing his arms.

"500 points?" Ryou asked.

"Atem likes games and things - it's all he talks about," Honda broke in.

"I know! I swear, he's going to marry a game card!" Jounouchi put in.

Atem rolled his eyes, "That's impossible Jounouchi! But a man can dream can't he?" Atem got a faraway look in his eyes that made everyone worry about him a little bit, "Anyways, I want to be a game designer when I grow up," he smiled sheepishly, "But I can't draw a thing, so I'll need someone to do that for me if the need arises…" Ryou noticed Marik struggling not to smile as he smiled at Atem himself, "I like games to."

Atem seemed intrigued, "Really? What kind of games?"

"RPG mostly…" Bakura admitted.

Atem grinned, "A girl gamer… imagine that… I like card games the best myself, but we should play sometime!"

Ryou nodded enthusiastically, "Sounds like fun!"

"Why do you cut school anyway?" Bakura felt implied to ask.

Atem smiled deviously, "That's classified information."

Yugi rolled his eyes, "It's complicated. And kind of sounds like bragging."

"Bragging?" Ryou asked.

"That's all we can tell you!" Atem said.

"He means it," Honda said, "he won't even tell _us_ why, and we've known him for two years!"

"Yeah!" Jounouchi said, "The only one who knows is Anzu, and _she_ won't tell us."

Anzu smiled, "It's not my secret to tell. And the only reason I know is because I've known Yugi and Atem since we were kids."

Jounouchi rolled his eyes. He looked at Ryou, "So Anzu's already forced you into the Girl's Club huh? She's always trying to get new members. As soon as my sister's old enough she's gonna try and get her to join to."

Anzu glared at him, "I don't force people to join! I just introduce them to it and they decide they'll join."

"No - you force people."

Anzu kept glaring at Jounouchi.

Ryou laughed, "She didn't force me -" Bakura let out a loud "HA!" and Ryou had to glare at Bakura quickly before smiling again.

"Uh, guys?" Yugi interrupted, "We should probably get to class."

"Yeah, good point," Honda said.

"Let me put my stuff away first," Marik said while he picked his backpack off the floor and started working the lock on locker 99.

Ryou smiled at him, "We're locker buddies!" he announced.

Marik laughed, "Yeah, I guess so."

"Oh great," Bakura said, clearly annoyed, "now I have to see you at my locker too? Could this day get any better?"

Marik sneered at Bakura, "I'm not exactly thrilled either. But as long as Ryou's here, it won't be so bad." Ryou smiled.

As soon as Marik was done putting everything in his locker, they headed to class. "You have to wait in the hallway until the teacher tells you to come in," Anzu told them, "it's just how we've always done it."

Ryou nodded, Bakura rolled his eyes. They waited outside as all their new friends went in the classroom. Marik waved to Ryou before walking in and disappearing behind the door.

"So, what do you think of them Bakura?" Ryou asked.

Bakura waved his hand in the air, "Feh, they seem all right. Except for that Ishtar kid," Bakura pronounced "Ishtar" as good as an American, "I don't know what it is - I just don't like him.""You have to have a _reason_," Ryou pressed.

Bakura shrugged, "Well I don't. Sue me."

"Come on," Ryou continued, "Just give me one thing."

Bakura thought about it, then snapped his fingers, "He's gay."

Ryou stared at him, "… You can't know that!" he exclaimed.

Bakura laughed, "Oh please, with the way he dressed it's plain obvious! I'm surprised the school doesn't make him get rid of that stuff."

Ryou thought about it and figured that his brother might be right… But he didn't think any less of gay people or anything, and neither did Bakura. Ryou pouted, "You've never had a problem with gay people before…"

"I don't, but you said to give you a reason, so that's mine until I have a better one."

Ryou stared at his brother, "You're impossible, you know that?"

"I know, but I'm your brother so you have to put up with it," he smirked, "putting my dislike for Ishtar aside, a lot of people think you're _cute_ Ryou. Doesn't that affect your masculinity at all?"

Ryou shrugged. In reality, it did bother him - a lot - but what could he do? "Maybe a little, but everyone's entitled to their own opinions. Besides, you call me cute all the time - ever since I can remember."

Bakura laughed a little nervously, "Yeah, but… We're brothers! So… Anyways," he got more serious, "be careful Ryou, a lot of boys will go after you."

Ryou rolled his eyes, "Oh please, no one's going to 'go after me.' I'm too… What's the word… odd?"

Bakura was about to say something when the teacher showed up. "Ah, the Bakura twins," he said, "So good to see you, I'll tell you when to come in, okay?"

"Yes sir," Ryou said at the same time Bakura said, "Whatever." The teacher walked inside just as the bell rang, and Bakura mouthed the words, "Just be careful" to Ryou before the teacher said, "Class, as I'm sure you're well aware, we have two new students today. All right, come on in guys!"

The two white-haired twins walked in - one smiling brightly, one with a rather-be-anywhere-but-here look - and stood at the front of the class. "Would you care to introduce yourself boys?" the teacher asked.

"Hello everyone," Ryou started since he knew Bakura hated talking to more than one person at a time ('too confusing' he said), "My name is Bakura Ryou. But you may all call me Ryou-san if you like," he gave a dazzlingly cute smile that instantly made everyone freeze and stare, and made all the boys wonder, "Is that a girl?" and all the girls wonder, "Is that a boy?" except for Anzu's group who already thought he was a girl.

"My name is Bakura Bakura," he smirked evilly, "You may only - and I repeat, _only_ call me Bakura-san. You may _not,_ under _any_ circumstances, shorten my name because it's 'too long.' I have a story about the last person that did that -" Ryou put a hand on Bakura's shoulder and gave him a look that said: _Please don't freak out our classmates on the first day_. "- So yeah, I'm Bakura-san," he smirked, "Good luck figuring out if that's my last name or my first name." Everyone knew, without a doubt, that _he_ was definitely a boy. The teacher told them where to sit - Ryou was in between Marik and a window and Bakura was in the back row all by himself behind Ryou. Marik smiled at Ryou who returned the gesture. Bakura rolled his eyes.

* * *

It was now lunchtime and Ryou and Bakura were sitting with the people they had met that morning along with Kana-chan, Amora, Mandai, and a girl named Miho. Everyone was eating various things; noodles, rice, sushi, seaweed balls, various fish, etc; except for Bakura, who was just sitting, propping his head up with his elbow on the table, watching everyone else eat.

"Arn't ya gonna get 'nythin' Ba'ura?" Jounouchi asked with his mouth full.

"I don't eat lunch," Bakura answered simply as he examined his nails.

Ryou, who was sitting between Bakura and Marik, nodded his head, "It's true, he's never eaten lunch."

"I don't see the point really. I don't really need three meals a day, I have breakfast and dinner, that's it."

"He's probably anorexic," Marik mumbled under his breath.

Bakura glared, "Watch it blondie."

"So how do you like school so far Ryou?" Anzu asked before they could start fighting again.

Ryou smiled gratefully at Anzu, "I like it. It's very different from other schools."

"Yeah, that was the goal of the person who started this school," Yugi said, "He wanted to blend Japanese culture with American, so he started this school."

"Yes," Atem joined in, "That's why high school here starts at ninth grade instead of tenth, and why we're called freshmen. However, even if we're in "high school," we pretty much learn the same things as if we were in ninth grade in a regular school."

"That's confusing," Bakura said, trying to work out in his head why anyone would want to do this.

"Yeah, but it's because of that that our school doesn't have a dress code, and why we're taught just as much about American culture as we do our own Japanese. In a way, we learn a lot more here."

Ryou smiled, "I know, that's why I wanted to come here. To learn more.""Then you picked a good school!" Amora said, "Not only do they teach a lot, but the food here is great!"

"Yeah, but because we learn so much we have tons more homework!" Honda joined in, "I don't care if the food's great, I have other things I want to do too!"

"You just need to manage your time better," Kana-chan said, "not blow off your studies and play _video games_ as soon as you get home until nine o'clock at night."

"Hey! You can't comment! You play online with me every day!"

"Yes, but _I_ get my homework _done_ during homeroom instead of flirting with every girl in the room!"

"Shhh!" Honda silenced her as he glanced at Miho, worried that she might have heard. He needn't have worried though, because Miho had trapped Anzu into a mini, side-table conversation discussing plans to go shopping on the weekend.

"Besides!" Atem said, "because we copy American schools, we get three whole months of summer vacation!" Everyone gave a small cheer for the elongated vacation, "But we still have just one classroom instead of going from class to class."

"Yeah, they said that would be too big of a change to do that all the time," Kana-chan said, "so we just change classrooms during second term. Oh! We have three terms by the way."

Ryou nodded, and Bakura just kept staring at his nails like he wasn't paying attention.

"So Ryou!" Yugi said suddenly, "Everyone's going to go karaoke today after school, want to come?"

"What time?" Ryou asked.

"Yugi!" Jounouchi said, swallowing the food in his mouth hurriedly, "They probably have a lot of homework, there's no way they'd be able to come!"

Yugi seemed troubled, "Oh! I'm sorry. Jounouchi's right, you probably have a lot of homework don't you?"

Ryou was about to tell them that he had in fact finished his homework yesterday, when Atem interrupted, "Now Jounouchi, we didn't even let poor Ryou answer yet. Don't make assumptions based on nothing."

Bakura slammed his fist down on the table, "We finished our homework. What time is the singing-thing?" he said irritably.

Everyone looked at him, and he glared defiantly back. Marik raised an eyebrow, "You sing? You probably sound awful…"

Bakura snorted, "I don't sing. I'm not going, but if I didn't do something then Ryou would never get a word in. So Ryou, what do you have to say?"

"Um…" Ryou seemed flustered, but he turned to Yugi to answer his question, "It's true… we finished the make-up work yesterday, I'd love to go though. What time is it?"

Yugi smiled, "Six-o-clock! Can you come?"

Ryou smiled, "Sure! I'm free, but -" he turned to Bakura, "I would _love_ it if my big brother would join me," he said batting his eyelashes.

Bakura scowled, "Forget it. I'm not going," he smirked in the next instant and hugged Ryou, "But I do _love_ my little sister!" he said kissing him on the cheek.

Ryou blinked surprised, then rubbed his cheek, "Yuk Bakura! That's disgusting!"

Bakura laughed, "We're related - that means it's okay."

Ryou pouted, "I just want to spend some time with my big brother…" he mumbled, avoiding everyone's eye contact and picking at his food. Everyone looked at him with mouths slightly agape, and then turned to glare at Bakura. Bakura looked at them all, "What?" he asked, looking around at all the glares. "_What?_" As everyone kept glaring a him he shouted, "She's faking!" Bakura said, adapting to the fact he had a 'sister' fairly quickly, "You can't see that?" He looked at Ryou and jerked away. Ryou _did_ look sad.

Bakura felt his miniscule heart tighten and he sighed, "Fine," he said, eyes closed, running a hand through his messy, white hair, "I'll go to this stupid get-together… But I'm _not_ singing!"

He resisted the urge to bang his head on the table as Ryou picked his head up and beamed up at him, "Thanks 'Kura! I knew you'd reconsider!"

Bakura felt his eye start to twitch, "Of course you knew… You're a silent trickster. And people think _I'm_ the bad twin - they're fools!"

Ryou's eyes went wide, "I would never trick anyone! That'd be mean!"

Bakura face-palmed himself - Ryou hadn't been acting when he said that. Actually, he hadn't been acting through any of it - he really did want to spend time with Bakura, and the big brother had a feeling Ryou didn't' know his own power - actually, it wasn't a feeling; he _knew_ Ryou had no idea how he affected people. He grumbled quietly to himself before he noticed Marik smirking at him. He narrowed his eyes. "What are you looking at pretty-boy?" he smirked, "Can't keep your eyes off me huh?"

Marik blinked at the un-called for comment and glared at him, shrugging his shoulders nonchalantly in the next second, "I was simply observing you slowly bend to your sister's will '_Kura_," he said ''Kura' mockingly.

Bakura glared, "Only Ryou can call me that, and like you wouldn't give into that face!" he said pointing at Ryou accusingly. Ryou looked surprised, his eyes going a little wider, and Marik turned to look at him and froze. Ryou just looked… so… adorable! Like a little kitten just wanting to be petted… Marik's heart began to beat faster and he could feel heat threatening to build up in his face. These facts did not go unnoticed by Bakura, who's eyes widened in disbelief and shock.

Marik shrugged again and started eating his food, "You have a point there, but at least I don't have a complex." _A sister complex_ Bakura heard the unspoken word through Marik's smirk.

"At least I don't dress like some prostitute!"

"Bakura!" Ryou said, shocked that Bakura would use such language, "Everyone has a right to dress the way they want! Just like you have a right not to eat lunch if you don't want to."

Bakura sat back, "He started it."

Ryou sighed and then turned to Marik with a smile, "So you're going to sing too?"

Marik nodded, "Yup."

Ryou smiled brightly, "I can't wait to hear you sing!"

Marik blinked and a small blush crept up to his face, "Um… Thanks. I'm not that good though -"

"Are you kidding?" Jounouchi broke in, "He could start a band with the way he sings!"

Marik glared at Jounouchi before a small giggle from Ryou brought his gaze back to 'her.' "I'm no good at singing at all," Ryou said.

Marik smiled as he said these next words, "Maybe we could sing a duet?" he offered.

Ryou's eyes brightened, "I'd like that!" looking forward to the get-together more now.

Bakura starred at the scene before him in horror. Did Ryou realize that this sounded more like a date with other people around than a get-together?

"Miho-chan!" Honda interrupted Bakura's horror, "We'll sing a duet too, right?"

"Oh!" she said, "Miho-chan would like that!"

"Yugi!" Anzu said, "We'll sing a duet too right?"

Yugi smiled, "Of course!"

"Better make it a threesome," Atem broke in, "Cause I'm singing with my little brother and his girlfriend!"

Ryou blinked at them, "You're together?" he asked tilting his head to the side.

Anzu nodded, "Yes, I'm sorry I forgot to tell you."

Ryou shook his head, "That's okay! It's none of my business anyway."

Amora smirked, "You know what _is_ your business though?" she said with a knowing glance at Jounouchi, "Jounouchi-kun's crushing on one of the Girl's Club members!"

"Shut up!" Jounouchi said, pointing his fork at her, "I already told you that I don't!"

Ryou blinked at this new information, "Really?" he asked. He would have asked which girl, but again, it was none of his business.

Unfortunately, Bakura always loved to know things that weren't his to know, "What girl is that?"

Kana-chan smiled, "It's -!" Jounouchi's hand was over hers in the next second as a light blush came to his face, "It's no one!" he said hurriedly.

Ryou giggled, "Well, whoever this 'no one' is, does she know that you, er, _don't_ like her?"

Amora laughed at the game Ryou was playing, "Of course not! 'No one' thinks that Jounouchi absolutely _looooves_ her!"

Jounouchi glared at Amora, "I thought you were supposed to be more girly!"

"I can't help it if I have to deal with stupid boys," she stood up and got up in his face, "Besides, if I recall correctly, the last time w fought there was no winner… let's settle that once and for all!" Ryou jumped back from surprise. They were going to fight? Ryou didn't like violence…

Jounouchi smiled, "Sounds like a plan! I haven't fought in so long! Although I'll have to go easy on you since you're a girl…"

Amora glared heatedly at him, "How dare you! I'm just as tough if not _tougher_ than any guy in this school!"

"Well, we'll see after school won't we?"

Amora smiled, "Yeah," she turned to Anzu, "I'll have to skip the Girl's meeting today Anzu," then she got a glint in her eye and smirked, "Unless you bring the Girl's Club outside to watch Jounouchi get beaten by a girl!"

Jounouchi growled, "There's no way I'll lose to you!"

Amora smirked; Jounouchi had played right into her trap, "Okay, since you seem so certain that you're gonna win, let's make a bet!" she stood up straight and crossed her arms, "If I win, you have to ask 'no one' to come along with us to karaoke!"

Jounouchi blinked as his face turned red, "Bu-but… 'no one' doesn't exist!"

"Well then this should be so easy for you shouldn't it?"

"Yeah Jounouchi!" Mandai said, speaking up for the first time, "It should be easy for you then, right?"

Jounouchi glared at both of the girl's and then sighed, "Fine… but if I win, you have to stop bringing up 'no one!'"

"So there _is_ a someone!" Mandai said, pointing a finger at Jounouchi.

"What?" he said shocked, "No! I'm just saying…" he cried out in frustration, "After school, behind the gym!"

"See you there!"

It would have been customary at this time for both of the arguers to walk off, but since they were both seated at the same table, they had to sit down and glare at each other instead.

Kana-chan chuckled, "I'd love to watch this all go down," she said, disappointed, "But I'm in charge of dinner tonight and have to go shopping after school…" she turned to Atem, "You'll tape it though right?"

Atem nodded, "Of course! It's been so long since we've had a Hanamia-Jounouchi showdown!" he said, using Amora's last name.

"Yeah," Mandai input, "the first one we had Jounouchi-kun wouldn't even fight!"

Jounouchi crossed his arms, "My mom always told me to be nice to girls… and not hurt them."

Amora snorted, "You seemed to have forgotten that when I punched you in the _face_."

"Hey! I was just defending myself!"

As they continued to argue, Ryou's gaze moved to Honda and Miho who were discussing what song they should sing. Then it moved to Anzu and Yugi who were talking about how they wished their friends didn't have to resort to violence. Then he looked back at Jounouchi, who was arguing with Amora and Mandai about 'no one' again. _It seems as if they all have someone special in their lives… except for… _His gaze moved to Atem who was watching the debate with amusement, then to the two girls Jounouchi was arguing with, and then to Marik who was shaking his head slightly at the fighting taking place. He lifted his head up and saw Ryou looking at him, and then 'she' smiled at him. Marik blinked at 'her,' but then smiled back, ignoring the feeling he got in his stomach when he thought that Ryou was staring at him.

Bakura watched Ryou and Marik's interaction angrily while grinding his teeth. _Looks like I need to have a talk with a certain girly boy later…_ Whether he was talking about Marik or his brother was unclear even to him, though it would probably be both.

Suddenly, Mandai's eyes went wide, "Pegasus alert!" she said as she sat down hurriedly. Jounouchi and Amora quickly followed suit, pretending like they _weren't_ just up in each other's face arguing. Everyone else reacted too, pretending to be interested in eating rather than excited about the upcoming fight. Only Ryou and Bakura didn't know what was going on. "What's a Pegasus alert?" Ryou asked.

Marik looked up from his food, "He's our guidance counselor… we'll talk more later, here he comes!"

Suddenly, Bakura and Ryou felt a hand clamp them on their shoulders. They turned to look up at a man with long, straight, white hair, wearing a white jacket and black pants. "Ah! The Bakura twins," he started out saying. Ryou was shocked by the American accent and drawl, and Bakura instantly assumed that this guy was gay - just from his voice. "I am Pegasus J. Crawford, but you may all call me Pegasus! I'm the guidance counselor here, I take it you both are adjusting nicely? Yes?" he prolonged almost all of his vowels, so it took him a lot longer to say all that than it should have.

Ryou smiled, "Uh-huh! Everyone's really nice here!"

Pegasus smiled, "That's great news to hear! What about you Bakura-kun?"

Bakura scowled at the use of the word 'kun,' "Well, I _was_ doing fine until you called me 'kun.'"

Pegasus laughed, thinking Bakura was just being funny. Then he turned to Marik. "Marik-kun, I haven't seen you in a while, are you okay?"

Marik nodded, dislike showing only a little in his eyes, "Yes, I'm fine."

"Because you know you can talk to me about any -"

"Yes," Marik interrupted, "I know, but there's nothing to say."

Pegasus nodded, then patted the two Bakura's on the shoulder again, "Well, I'll see you around! Do try to stop by my office sometime boys, I'd love to talk to you about anything at all!" and with that, he walked away.

Bakura watched his retreating figure, and then turned to smirk at Marik, "Aw, does the little girl have psychological trauma?" he said like he was talking to a five-year-old.

Marik glared at him, "Aw, does _'Kura_ not like being called 'kun?'" he said, matching Bakura's inflection perfectly.

Bakura growled, and Ryou interrupted the fight before it could inflame anymore: "So why do you have a Pegasus alert?"

Marik broke his glare from Bakura and was about to answer Ryou's question when Atem beat him to it, "There's a rumor around school that he's gay."

Yugi sighed, "Do you have to be so blunt Atem?"

Atem shrugged, "It's the truth."

"But that's just a _rumor_ though," Anzu broke in, "We have no proof or anything."

"It's not only that though," Honda said, for once not talking to Miho, "he's really creepy… whenever he schedule's an appointment or calls you down… when the people come back, they say that they don't want to talk about it… Especially the boys."

"Also," Marik broke in, his voice eerily low, "They say that he can see into your mind…"

"Ah!" Jounouchi said, bringing his hands up to his ears, "I don't want to hear that! I hate the occult!"

Ryou and Bakura, however, _loved_ the occult - it was one of the only things they both liked. Both of their eyes sparked, "Really?" Ryou asked excitedly, "Does anyone know how he does it?"

"Yeah," Bakura joined in, "what did he do to obtain these powers?"

"It's only a rumor," Kana-chan broke in, "people just say that because he can tell what's troubling you. But that's his job! I mean, he _is_ a guidance counselor!"

Mandai nodded, "Yeah! It's his job to find out what's troubling us."

Miho broke in with a smile, "I talked to him once and felt better afterwards! Pegasus is really a nice man, I don't know why people don't see that."

"No offense Miho," Atem broke in, "But you like _everybody_."

Miho shrugged cutely.

"I've never been to his office," Yugi said into the silence, "so I can't really say anything about it… Though I have seen him hug students for a longer time than you should…"

"If there's so many complaints about him," Bakura broke in, "why don't they just fire him?"

"They can't," Jounouchi and Amora said in unison, then glared at each other.

"Why not?" Ryou asked.

"Because he's the one who founded this school," Marik informed them.

The new twins in the school seemed shocked, "Really?" they said in unison.

"Wait, that doesn't make sense," Bakura said, "If he found the school, then shouldn't he be the principal?"

"Technically, yes," Anzu said, "but he said that he wouldn't be able to help the students as much if he was a principal, so he's the guidance counselor."

Ryou looked up in thought, "That is true…" he said.

"Let's stop talking about Pegasus," Atem broke in. He looked at Kana-chan and smirked, "Wanna help me spread the word about the brawl after school?"

"Yeah!" Kana-chan said as they both stood up, "I'll take the right side, you take the left!"

"Atem!" Yugi said as Kana-chan ran off, "You shouldn't go telling everybody!"

"But Yugi!" Atem complained, "This is the fight of a century! If you don't want to watch you don't have to - I know you hate violence, but other people might want to watch!"

Yugi sighed, "Fine… Go…"

Atem smiled, "Thanks Yugi-kun!" then he ran off to go tell everybody of the fight that was going to ensue.

"My money's on Hanamia-san," Bakura broke in.

"What!" Jounouchi said, "You think _she'll_ win?"

"She has more to fight for than you."

"What do you mean?"

Bakura counted them of on his fingers, "First of all, she's a girl, so people will automatically assume she'll lose, so she'll want to prove them wrong. Second, she really wants you to ask this 'no one' person to this stupid karaoke so she'll fight hard to make you. Three, it seems to me that she enjoys getting into fights and proving she's stronger. You're just fighting because you don't want to ask this 'no one' person to the karaoke," he turned to Ryou. Ryou saw the gaze and finished his brother's thought, "Since she has more to fight for, she's more likely to win. That's all my brother's saying."

Marik raised one eyebrow, "So you're a person who goes by facts? I would have never guessed."

Bakura was about to make a sarcastic remark when Ryou intervened and said, "Bakura loves facts. It's how he settles things quickly."

Bakura grinned, "That's also how I tell when people are lying and how I win fights."

"If you love facts," Yugi said, "you should become a lawyer!"

Bakura blinked. "Hm… I've never thought of a career before…"

Ryou looked at him, "Yeah! Lawyers study nothing but facts! And they always know what to say like you."

Bakura smiled while he rubbed his chin, "A lawyer huh? They make a lot of money right?"

Marik rolled his eyes, "Of course that's all you'd care about. But I do admit, you'd make a good lawyer," he smirked, "you'd get to lie for a living."

Bakura raised an eyebrow, "What makes you think I'm a liar?"

Marik shrugged while he picked up a piece of fish with his chopsticks, "Oh, you know… you have that… _look_ about you."

Jounouchi seemed confused, "Look?"

"Yeah," Amora said, "what look?"

Marik smirked at Bakura, "You're eyes for one. They just _scream_ 'I lie all the time.' And the way you talk just _oozes_ untruth."

Bakura raised an eyebrow, "Well, you have a certain look about you too. Know what that look is?"

Marik narrowed his eyes, he could tell what Bakura was thinking.

Fortunately for him, Ryou could also tell where Bakura was headed.

Bakura smirked, about to say what was on his mind when Ryou interrupted, "Actually," 'she' said, "Bakura only lies when necessary, otherwise he tells the truth."

Bakura blinked at his twin, then scowled, "Oh come on Ryou," he said crossly, "how am I supposed to be a bad boy if you go around telling everybody I tell the truth?"

Ryou smiled, "Well, I guess you'll just have to not be the bad boy this year huh?"

Bakura rolled his eyes and stood up from the table. "If you'll excuse me," he said, "I'm going to go meet some fellow juvenile delinquents." He started walking away, but just then the bell rang, signaling the end of lunch and the start of fourth period. Bakura felt his eye start to twitch as Ryou came up to him and said, "You can talk to them tomorrow Bakura, we have to go to class now."

Bakura glared at his brother, "Bad boys don't _go_ to class, we _ditch_ it."

Ryou looked sad. "Alright, fine," he said despondently before walking away. Bakura was about to leave the school building when he saw Marik walk up to Ryou and start talking about some random thing. They both laughed. Bakura clenched his fists and followed behind them, grumbling something about girly Egyptians being stabbed.

* * *

It was time for gym - 9-B's last class of the day. As Ryou walked forward, he found that he faced an entirely different problem.

The dressing room.

He was a boy, so he should go to the boy's dressing room, but everyone thought that he was a girl, so he should go there. But, the teacher knew that he was a boy, and if he saw him go in the girl's dressing room he'd call the principal and then his secret would be blown and Amora would probably kill him… or at the very least, wound him badly.

As he neared closer and closer to the dressing room, he felt pressure build on his chest. What should he do? Should he blow his secret, go to the boy's dressing room and possibly die? Or keep up his charade, go to the girl's dressing room, and remain in perfect health? He didn't like lying to all these people, but… technically, he never _said_ he was or wasn't a girl, people had just assumed… so _technically_ he wasn't lying… right? Oh gosh, what should he do?

Luckily, the decision was made for him when Anzu came up behind him, grabbed his hand, and said, "The dressing rooms are this way Ryou! The girl's is on the right side." Ryou smiled and nodded, "Thank you!" He followed Anzu through the crowd and into the girl's dressing room. Some girls were already changing inside, so he kept his head down and walked straight to the bathroom to change. He sighed in relief when he made it to the bathroom without seeing anything he shouldn't have. He looked around and found that he wasn't the only person in here. He smiled, "Hi Sagaki-san!" he said to the shy girl that he met at the Girl's Club yesterday.

She blushed, "H-hello… Bakura-san…" she said quietly.

Ryou waved his hand in the air, "Please, call me Ryou-san, since it'd be confusing if you called both me and my brother Bakura…"

She blushed more, and Ryou wondered just how shy she was… "Um…" she might as well have whispered, "Okay… you can call me… Anai-chan then… i-if you want!" she added the last part hastily.

Ryou smiled, "Okay Anai-chan."

She blinked and then blushed more before disappearing into a stall and closing the door behind her. Ryou blinked at where she had been standing, but then walked into a stall and started to change too.

* * *

Marik was taking his gym clothes out of his gym locker when he saw a pale white arm shoot out from behind him and attach itself to the wall next to the locker. He turned around to come face to face with the older Bakura twin. He raised an eyebrow, "Do you want to start rumors or something?" he asked simply.

Bakura narrowed his eyes. "I'm only gonna say this once," he brought his face closer till their noses were almost touching. "Stay. Away. From. Ryou. You wouldn't want to damage that pretty little face of yours would you?"

Marik blinked but then smirked, "Aw, you think I'm pretty? And people think _I'm_ gay."

Bakura scowled, but then he smirked in the next instant, "Well, I _am_ new… You don't know what my preferences are do you pretty boy?" He watched in delight as he saw shock go across Marik's face, and then a light pink blush swept across his face when he realized just how close their faces were. Even Bakura had to admit his blush looked cute-ish. Not as cute as Ryou's, but still pretty good. He chuckled deeply before walking away to go change.

* * *

When Ryou went out to the gymnasium, he was worried. He was worried that the teacher would say, "Boys, line up over here. Girls line up over there!" and then where would he go? Or if he said, "Make a team of a boy and a girl!" what would he do then?

Luckily, the gym teacher started out the class by saying, "Since we have two new students, I'm going to remind you all that I don't separate boys and girls. You go to a co-ed school, so you should play co-ed sports! So I want no discrimination or saying, "You throw like a girl!" or "you're gay!" or "you're a lesbian!" _anywhere_, do I make myself clear?"

"Yes sensei!" everyone responded. Ryou probably would have hugged him right now for how happy he was.

They continued the rest of the class period by playing basketball. He learned that the teacher let you pick your own teams as long as it wasn't made up of all boys or all girls, so Ryou was teamed up with Marik, Amora, Jounouchi, and Atem against Bakura, Anzu, Yugi, Honda, and Kana-chan. Mandai and Miho were playing on a different team.

Ryou wasn't very athletic, or coordinated, but he did his best. He usually ended up passing it to his other teammates though. He knew that Jounouchi and Amora would be good players, but he didn't know about Atem or Marik… He was… _surprised_ to say the least. Marik was awesome at stealing the ball and shooting, and Atem was great at defense despite his being short. Bakura seemed intent on guarding Marik the whole game, and Ryou was fairly certain that if the teacher wasn't looking then they would have just started punching each other right then and there. Why did his brother have to make enemies on his first day? Couldn't he at least _try_ to get along with people?

Somehow, they made it through the game without a fight breaking out and pretty soon the teacher was calling: "All right class! Gym is almost over, go and change now!" All of the students stopped what they were doing and left towards the dressing rooms. This time Ryou didn't hesitate, though he did try to get their early so he wouldn't see anything. He grabbed his clothes from his locker and hurried to the bathroom right away, but he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned around and saw that it was someone from the Girl's Club. Only she was taking her shirt off as she talked to him, "After you change, the Club's going outside to watch the fight."

Ryou nodded quickly (his face going pink) before she took the shirt off all the way, "All right," he said nervously, hurriedly, "thanks for telling me!" then he took refuge into the bathroom. He took a deep breath to make the color come out of his cheeks, and he noticed that Anai was already there. She had one arm inside her shirt, obviously about to take it off. She blushed bright red and disappeared into a stall again.

Ryou stared at her, wondering how he was so lucky to have lasted _this_ long without seeing anything or getting caught.

And how long would this luck last?

* * *

Ryou walked out of the dressing room - his head down the entire way - and he looked around to find Bakura, but found Marik instead. He smiled at him, "Hi Ishtar-san! Have you seen my brother?"

"He's still changing. You going to watch the fight?"

Ryou nodded, "Sadly, I have to, the entire Girl's Club is going."

"I'm guessing you don't like violence either?"

Ryou sighed, "No, but we have to cheer Amora-chan on," Ryou giggled cutely, not noticing when Marik's face turned just a little pink at the cuteness, "Of course if she does win then I get to find out who Jounouchi likes…"

Marik laughed, "Wanna walk with me?"

Ryou nodded, "Sure!" Marik started walking and Ryou followed. When they got behind the gym, they saw that Amora and Jounouchi were already preparing for the upcoming fight. "They're probably waiting for everyone else to show up," Marik said. He turned to Ryou. "Hey… Bak -"

"Please, call me Ryou-san. It'll be confusing otherwise."

Marik smiled, "Okay, then call me Marik-san."

Ryou smiled, "Okay."

Marik chuckled, "I was just wondering…" he began, but Ryou never got to hear his question because just then Atem showed up with a video camera.

"Front row seat!" he said grinning from ear to ear.

"Where's Yugi?" Marik asked Atem instead of asking Ryou whatever he had wanted to say.

Atem shrugged, "Find Anzu, find Yugi. It's that simple. Let's get this show on the road!" Atem shouted the last sentence at the two fighters.

"We have to wait for everyone first!" Amora shouted back.

"Yeah! Apparently a lot of people made bets on this!" Jounouchi added.

It was then that Bakura showed up, and he didn't seem too happy that Ryou had left without him - and with _Marik_ nonetheless. He glared at the offending Egyptian, who glared defiantly back. "What did I tell you in the locker-room?" he asked in a demanding tone.

Ryou's eyes widened in fright, "What did you do now Bakura?"

Marik smiled at Ryou, "Don't worry Ryou-san, he didn't do anything bad."

Bakura blinked once, then narrowed his eyes dangerously, "Who said you can call her Ryou-san?"

"I did Bakura," Ryou interrupted, "I told him to call me by my first name to avoid confusion. What did you do?" he asked again.

Bakura raised his arms so that the palms were facing his twin, "I didn't do anything!"

Ryou crossed his arms and pouted slightly, "Why do you find it necessary to lie right now Bakura?"

Bakura smirked, "Because," his face got serious again, "I'll tell you later."

Ryou was about to ask his brother to tell him _now_, when Atem said, "Shhh! The fight's starting!"

Honda walked in between the two teenagers and announced, "Ladies and Gentlemen! Boys and Girl! Students of Japarica **(1)** High! You have all gathered here today to watch the fight of the century! The showdown between the Girl's Club's own Hanamia Amora!" loud, boisterous cheers rose form the crowd, "and the karate club's own Jounouchi Katsuya!" there were cheers for him too, but they weren't quite as loud as Amora's. Ryou was surprised, Jounouchi was on the karate team? "But!" Honda interjected the cheering, "Before we can begin, we need someone on teacher watch! Any volunteers?" A random student raised their hand. "You sir!" Honda said, pointing right at him, "Thank you for volunteering! Guard the door please!" The student went to go guard the door. "Now, I am aware that many of you have placed bets -"

"Get on with it already!" an impatient student called from the crowd.

Honda glared at where the interjection came from, "For those that want a replay for 'fairness issues' Mutou Atem is taping the thing! Okay, let's start this thing!" Honda went off to the side, raised his hand in the air and yelled, "FIGHT!"

They started squaring off as cheers erupted from the students. Ryou wondered why everyone was being so loud - wouldn't that just attract the teachers? He quickly stopped thinking about this though when Jounouchi got impatience with squaring off and rushed forward to hit Amora.

Unfortunately, that's exactly what she had hoped he would do.

She jumped out of the way at the last second then delivered a blow to the back of his neck. Jounouchi didn't fall down though, he just rubbed the back of his neck as he momentarily lost his balance. When he turned to glare at Amora, she was smirking with her hands balled up into fists in the air. "What's the matter?" she asked mockingly, "A little impatient aren't we?"

Jounouchi roared at her as he delivered a fierce kick to her stomach. She stumbled back but didn't fall down. She had a pained look on her face as she cradled her poor stomach that was now throbbing. She opened one eye, "Wow, I didn't think you had it in you to hit a girl that hard… You'll pay for that!" She ran forward and punched him right in the nose. Blood spurted out, and Ryou began to feel week at the knees. He grabbed at the nearest person's shoulder for support, and that person happened to be Marik. Marik blushed slightly turned to give a confusing look at Ryou, who smiled weakly at him. "I don't like blood…" he said simply, his grip tightening as Amora punched him in the nose again, causing more blood to come out. Marik looked at 'her,' and, feeling brave, put his arm around 'her' waist to give her more support. Ryou felt a blush creep up his neck as his side was pressed to Marik's, though he wasn't sure exactly why. He never blushed when Bakura helped him like this, wasn't it the same thing? He quickly stopped caring about this when Jounouchi delivered a blow right to Amora's jaw, blood dripping down from her chin and a tooth missing from her mouth… She quickly retaliated with a kick to his legs, making more blood come out and making Ryou even more weak.

During this whole thing, Bakura had been cheering on Amora, but then he remembered Ryou didn't like blood and turned to help. When he saw the sight before him he froze. _What does that little _pansy _think he's _doing? He thought angrily while grinding his teeth. Marik noticed him silently seething, smirked, and stuck his tongue out at him.

Bakura could have sworn smoke came out of his ears at that moment. He stalked towards him and took Ryou out of his embrace - they both missed it when Amora delivered a kick to the side of Jounouchi's chest, but unfortunately, Ryou saw it and gave a small 'eep!' as if he had been the one hit. He covered his eyes with his hands, peeking through his fingers every now and again.

He didn't realize how positively, irresistibly cute he looked when he did that.

Unfortunately, both Bakura and Marik noticed and stared at him, their mouths agape **(2)**. Bakura put his arm around his 'sister's' shoulder to comfort 'her' and glared at Marik. Marik glared right back, getting sick of Bakura's sister complex. Er, brother complex, but he didn't know that. Then they brought heir attention back to the fight just in time to see Amora bring the winning blow right to Jounouchi's stomach in the form of a fist. Jounouchi fell back to the ground. He tried to stand back up, but Amora had kicked his legs too many times and now they hurt. As soon as he stood up he fell back to the floor. He looked up at Amora, "All right… you win…" he said, downhearted.

Amora grinned, showing off her missing tooth, "Ha! Time for you to keep your end of the bargain Jounouchi-kun!"

Jounouchi grumbled, "I know!… Help me up…"

Amora held out her hand and helped him up. Hey, they may have just had a battle and caused each other a lot of pain and blood-loss, but they were still friends. When Jounouchi was back on his feet he smiled at Amora and gave her a thumbs up sign, "You're one tough chick Hanamia-chan…"

Amora laughed, "And you're one tough idiot Jounouchi-kun." She gave him a thumbs up sign too.

Jounouchi sighed, "Does anyone know where Kujaku Mai is?" he called to the audience. Ryou's eyes widened as he stepped forward away from Bakura's shoulder, "It's Kujaku-san?" he asked no one in particular. Suddenly, Mai emerged from the crowd. "I'm right here Jounouchi, what is it?"

Jounouchi marched up to her and looked at her very seriously. He took a deep breath, "Kujaku Mai," he said like the world depended on it, staring at her intently, "Would you like to come with me to karaoke tonight?" The crowd gasped and Ryou resisted the urge to laugh - it was like a drama play or a soap opera or something.

Mai looked confused for a second. "Sure… but I was already going tonight anyway…"

Jounouchi blinked, "… WHAT?" he turned to Amora who smiled smugly.

"Oh!" she said with fake surprise, "I forgot! I already _invited_ Mai to karaoke! Silly me!"

Jounouchi blinked as his rage built. "Wh… why… y-you… you EVIL _BITCH!_" he ran forward, aiming right for her face. Amora dodged it, laughing happily while doing so. Jounouchi kept trying to hit her and she kept dodging with ease. It was then that the crowd started to disperse, until it left the Girl's Club members and Yugi's gang. Jounouchi was starting to pant as he continued to chase Amora across the field, and Mai had an amused expression on her face.

"Girl's Club member!" Anzu called out, "We're moving the meeting inside now! Amora, stop toying with Jounouchi and come inside!"

* * *

I stopped right here because it was getting _way too long_… XD Send a review and tell me what you think! Did you like the chapter? Did you not like the chapter? If so, what did/didn't you like about it? What can I do to fix it? I CRAVE OPINIONS!

ALSO! When I said that it was Thief **vs.** Angst **vs.** Tender, I meant that those shippings are 'competing' if you will… I will have to ultimately decide, but until then, these shippings fight to the death! … Okay, maybe not the _death_, but you get the idea XD OH! And tack Bronzeshipping **vs.** Psychochipping on the list too - for later chapters XD and someone brought up the good point of Tornshipping… so tack that on to the competing list too XD

**(1)**: I combined the words Japan and America together because I couldn't think of anything better… ideas? (Lol if I mixed it around it would me Amerapan XD )

**(2)**: Did you know that 'agape' also means: "nonsexual love: love that is wholly selfless and spiritual"? O.O I certainly didn't… until I looked it up XD I love looking up words on Microsoft Works dictionary… is fun time…

~~~{(anonymous)REVIEW REPLIES!}~~~

**That's What Cheese Said**: Lol, I'm glad it's intriguing to you, And yeah, the Girl's Meeting is very funny XD I'm so happy when I make people laugh. I hope you laughed when you saw Pegasus~~~ XD  
You bring up a good point about the Tornshipping… I have a lot to think about =)  
And regarding the Tendershipping… Lols, that's all I have to say. I have a major twist for that XD I love twists.  
Glad you liked Anzu and Mai! And I wouldn't call it _stalking_ per _say, _you're just reading them… you're not stalking me are you? (stern gaze) lol, jk. XD Thanks for reviewing! =)

**Vi**: Yeah, I actually did this fanfic XD and that's a lot of vampire… And, DOESN'T HE? _DOESN'T HE?_ He totally looks like a girl with those big eyes of his! O.O And no… I am not making Ryou wear a skirt… not like I made Marik wear a dress XD And Tendershipping… MUA HA HA HA HAAAAA! That is all I have to say XD I love all those pairings too… XD Thanks for reviewing! =)

THANK YOU ALL FOR READING THIS! =DDD IF YOU REVIEW RYOU WILL BE EVEN CUTER THAN HE ALREADY IS! XD (I'm already working on the next chapter... but don't expect it for a while ^_^")


	3. Karaoke

Here's another chapter! (That was fast… and it's long again… ^_^") Hope you like it! =) I got a lot of positive feedback… that makes me so happy! {starts crying happily} I'm such an emotional sap… READ THE CHAPTER!

Chapter 3: Karaoke

* * *

"Okay girls!" Anzu said once they were all back in the locker room, "I think that since we have a new member, it would be fitting to discuss the dangers of this school."

Ryou gulped, "Dangers?" he asked.

"Otherwise known as: Otogi Ryuji," Amora broke in a drab, disgusted voice, "also known as the most disgusting male-whore on the planet -"

"Amora-chan!" Anzu broke in, "We do not use that kind of language here!"

"But it's true!" she said as she stood up angrily, "He flirts with every girl and he _boasts_ that he's kissed and 'done it' with almost every girl in the school!"

"I know!" someone else spoke up, "The only girls he _hasn't_ gotten to are Anzu - 'cause she has a girlfriend, Anai because…" she looked at Anai who blushed red and shook her head furiously, making Ryou wonder what the heck they were talking about, "… just because… and Mai," the girl smirked, "because she likes someone else!"

"Yeah girl!" someone shouted.

Mai blinked at them all, "What are you all talking about?" She was leaning against the wall with her arms crossed again like she did at the last meeting, "I don't like anyone…"

"Yeah right!" Mandai broke in, "It's obvious you have a soft spot for Jounouchi!"

"Yeah Mai-san!" Amora said with a grin, "Besides, you didn't want to go to karaoke until I told you Jounouchi would be there!"

Mai blushed a little, "I just wanted to hear him sing! He probably sounds terrible…"

"Admit it Mai-san," Anzu spoke up, "you are head over heels for him."

Mai looked indignant, "Why I never! You don't have any proof! And even if I _did_ like Jounouchi-kun, I would not be 'head over heels'! I would _never_ be like that!"

The girls all giggled. "Okay girls," Anzu said, taking charge again, "We've tortured Mai-san enough; we were supposed to be warning Ryou about Otogi anyways."

"Make sure you're never alone with him!" Amora told Ryou.

"Don't make eye contact!" Mandai said.

"He will try a_nything_ to get you to like him, don't listen!" another girl interjected.

"He knows exactly what to say to make you do what he wants"

"Don't talk to him!"

"If he asks you out make up an excuse not to go!"

"If he tries to kiss you scream!"

"If he tries to do something _besides_ kissing, kick him where it hurts!"

Ryou was told many more warnings about Otogi, making Ryou wonder who this person possible could be or what he looked like. "Um…" he said, trying to stop them from telling him so many things at once, "I don't think I have to worry about him…"

All the girls stopped talking. "Why not?" Amora asked.

Ryou smiled, "Bakura will help me. He's helped me with all of my bullies."

The girls were quiet. "… You were bullied?" Anai asked, looking concerned.

Ryou nodded, "Uh-huh. I used to have bruises every day after school."

The girls all looked horrified, "What horrid person would beat up a girl like you?" Amora asked, sincerely wondering what the hell was wrong with those people, "Ah! No offense Bakura-san!"

Ryou chuckled, even though that last comment stung - just a little. However, he knew that he was weak, so he was used to it, "That's okay. And please, call me Ryou-san, you _all_ can all me Ryou-san, okay?"

A few girls laughed. "You were seriously bullied?" one girl asked. Ryou nodded. "What was it like?" she said, going on her stomach and propping her head up with her elbows on the floor and her head in her hands. She looked ready to be told a story.

"Well," Ryou began, "it was pretty terrible… the thing is, you don't even know what you've done to deserve their bullying anyway, so…" he was suddenly uncomfortable, "And, they always demand things from you… like information or your lunch money…" he fidgeted as he tried to find the right words.

Anzu noticed his discomfort and came to his rescue, "Now now girls, this is probably a very uncomfortable situation for Ryou-san, besides, we should tell her more about Otogi so that she's properly warned."

"One time," a girl with short, blonde hair said, "he backed a poor girl up against a wall and said that if she didn't agree to go on a date with him that he'd do much worse than just a simple kiss," the girl shuddered.

Amora snorted, "The worst part about that jerk is that I beat the crap out of him once and told him to stop being like he is, and he _still_ flirts with every dang girl in the school! I would give anything to punch his lights out… but he's in the other class, so I never see him."

Ryou found himself disbelieving that this guy was really all that bad. I mean, he had never met the guy, he couldn't just assume things based on what other people said, he should meet him first and then make his own opinion about him. But he had to admit, these warnings were nice to have.

"There's a few other boys you need to watch out for too Ryou-san," Anzu said, "There's Kaiba-san. He's not like Otogi, but he's just got a bad attitude and he'll try to force you to hang out with him and be a part of his posse. Then there's "Dinosaur" Ryuzaki and "Insector" Haga. They're best friends and make inappropriate jokes about _everything_, they're more annoying than anything though. And then you know Pegasus."

"That's all the ones I can think of right now…" Amora said, thinking, "except for all of those guy's goons…"

Ryou looked at all the girls in the rooms who were all thinking hard, except for Anai, who was looking at the floor and seemed as if she wanted to say something but was too shy to say it. Ryou, knowing what it's like to not know if you should contribute to the conversation or not, smiled at her and asked kindly, "Is there something you wanted to share Anai-chan?"

Anai blushed bright red at the use of the 'chan' she had told Ryou to call her by, "Um… It's just that… they're all homophobes too…"

Everyone looked at her, and their faces hardened, "Oh yeah," Amora said, her eyes dark and cloudy, "I forgot about that. Sorry Anai-chan."

She managed a weak smile, "I-it's all right… I just thought Ryou-san should know…" she seemed to have more on her mind, so Ryou asked her with a cute tilt of his head, "Anything else?"

Anai blushed a little more, but she tried to look Ryou right in the eyes as she said this next part, "I'm in Otogi's class… he found out that you're a girl, and he says he's going to… 'target' you tomorrow, before class…"

All the girl's eyes went wide, "You better watch out Ryou-san!" the girls kept telling him things like that.

Ryou just smiled at them all. "I'll be fine," he assured them.

* * *

While Ryou was having fun with the girls, Bakura was sitting outside in the hallway for Ryou to get out. He would have went home, but he and Ryou lived alone and he didn't want Ryou to walk home all by himself. Plus, Ryou was the one who made the meals - he sucked at cooking.

Bakura crossed his arms and looked up at the ceiling. _I wish I had an iPod…_ he thought, extremely bored. He knew he should probably be doing his homework, but that was more boring than sitting in a hallways waiting for your 'sister' to come out of her stupid Girl's Club meeting. Who the heck came up with this daft club anyway?

His thoughts were interrupted when a man with a perfect Egyptian tan appeared in his sights. "Hey," he said, "you know, we watched Jounouchi and Hanamia's fight, but failed to have our own."

Bakura smirked, "You just want a reason to touch me don't you?"

Marik narrowed his eyes, but then plopped down next to him. He smirked, "Well, you _do_ think I'm gay…"

"How can I not with the way you dress?"

"You know someone went up to me today and asked if I liked you? I knew you wanted to start rumors."

Bakura snickered, "Let people assume whatever the hell they want. We know the truth. That's all that matters."

Marik stared at Bakura curiously, "You certainly are a confusing person…"

"How so?"

"Today it seemed as if you couldn't stand me, and now we're actually having a conversation."

Bakura shrugged, "I just don't like you because it's obvious you like my sister."

Marik felt his face heat up, "What? That's ridiculous! I just met him - I'm sorry, _her_ today," he sighed. "I'm sorry, for some reason I have it in my head that Ryou's a boy, even though Anzu _told_ me she's a girl and she obviously _is_ one…" Marik trailed off, not noticing that Bakura had frozen.

… _Well, Ryou's secret didn't last long…_ "I bet you wish she was a boy," Bakura commented.

Marik glared, but then shrugged, "I don't know… You have to admit though, she _could_ be a boy…"

Bakura snickered, "I know…" Bakura turned his head to the side to look at his new enemy better, "So do you?"

"Do I what?"

"Wish Ryou was a boy."

"Why would I wish that?"

"Because you're like that."

"Like what?"

"Gay."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Well, are you?"

"Am I what?"

"Gay."

"Are _you?_"

"… I don't know anymore…" Bakura surprised even himself with his confession. He had been questioning it for a while… He had never really found girls attractive at all. He just dated them because everyone expected him to be a womanizer or something… Plus, all the bad boys had girlfriends; therefore he _had_ to get one. And he _did_ think Ryou was cute… probably more than a brother _or_ sister should…

"Scratch that, I already know the answer," Marik said.

Bakura raised an eyebrow, "And what _is_ the answer - enlighten me."

Marik smirked, "It's obvious you're bi because you have a sister complex and have absolutely no trouble cornering me in a locker room."

Bakura smirked back, "You didn't seem to mind… and I don't have a sister complex."

Marik laughed, "Keep telling yourself that. If you _don't_ have one, then why are you waiting our here for him? _Her!_ Gosh, I have got to stop doing that!" Marik mentally hit himself in the head.

Bakura shrugged, "It's fine - Ryou doesn't care much about her gender," he smirked at him, "but it would be pretty embarrassing if you called her a him wouldn't it?"

"Don't remind me…"

It was then that Bakura realized something. "Wait… Why are _you_ here?"

Marik grinned, "I wanted to see Ryou before I left…"

Bakura growled, "Leave. _Now_."

"Or what? Isn't it up to _Ryou_ who she sees and doesn't see?"

Bakura narrowed his eyes, "I thought you were gay?"

"Well, maybe I'm not." By that comment, Bakura assumed that Marik didn't know either. Great.

"I don't care anymore - just leave."

Marik chuckled, "And here I thought we were bonding…" he put his arm around Bakura's shoulders, "Come on _'Kura_, I'm friends with your sister, so shouldn't we be friends too?"

Bakura growled deeply, "Get you arm off of me."

"Or what?" Marik asked defiantly.

Bakura was about to just go off on Marik, but decided to have some fun instead. He brought his face close to Marik's - like he was going to kiss him. He breathed hot breath into his face, ecstatic when he saw Marik blush. "What do you think pretty boy?" he whispered seductively.

Marik jumped back and glared at him, "Okay, maybe you're just gay with a sister complex exception…"

Bakura thought a second before he smirked. "Or maybe I'm straight with a sister complex and you're the only exception?"**(1)** he offered.

Marik felt more heat come to his face, but he retorted with, "So you admit you have a sister complex?"

Bakura chuckled, "Maybe I do, maybe I don't," he stared at Marik before saying, "You're pretty cute when you blush kid…"

Marik glared at him, feeling more heat come to his face, "Yup. You're gay. And I'm not a kid! We're the same age!"

Bakura chuckled, "I'm not the one blushing like an idiot. And you most definitely _are_ a kid."

"You'd blush too if someone did that to you," Marik said, stubbornly crossing his arms.

"I probably wouldn't…" Bakura said truthfully, musing at the ceiling again. _The only one who's ever made me blush is…_ His ears perked up as he heard footsteps coming from the locker room. He turned his head to see the girls start walking out - keeping his eyes on lookout for a lock of white hair. Ryou emerged chatting with some girl he didn't know or care about. They both laughed, and then the girl ran off with Ryou waving at her. Gosh, he adapted to his new life as a girl quickly… Soon, Ryou spotted Bakura, smiled and walked over.

"You waited for me? Thanks!"

Bakura stood up, "Don't mention it."

"Hey Ryou-san," Marik broke in.

Ryou blinked at him. "Eh? Marik-san!" he said surprised, "Were you waiting for me too? You didn't have to do that!"

"Yes," Bakura broke in with a glare, "you _really_ didn't have to do that."

Ignoring Bakura, Marik smiled at Ryou,, "It was no trouble at all! Besides," he put his arm around Bakura's shoulder again, "me and _'Kura_ got to have a little talk!"

Bakura glared at him, "I told you to leave."

"I think that decision's up to Ryou," Marik said, glaring at Bakura again.

Ryou giggled, causing both of the fighting teens to turn and look at him - or 'her,' "You two are so funny…" he said.

Marik smiled as he took his arm off of Bakura's shoulder, "I'm glad you think that Ryou-san!"

Bakura rolled his eyes, and Ryou debated whether or not he should tell him about Otogi… he decided not to, since that would probably end badly… Besides, he was sure he could deal with Otogi by himself. "Well," he said clapping his hands together, "We should probably head home!"

Bakura glared at Marik. "Yes. _Home_. Where you should have gone ten minutes ago."

Marik glared back at him, "You should've been home fifteen minutes ago, I wouldn't be talking."

"I'm not going to let my little sister walk the streets alone!" Bakura said, "Look at her! She'd get kidnapped in ten seconds flat if I wasn't around!"

Ryou grimaced, "… Please don't talk like that… The girls were talking about how they have had to deal with stuff like that…" he shuddered, "I didn't now people could be so creepy."

Bakura stared at his little brother in horror, _Those jerks… ruining my brother's innocence… I'll kill them all!_ Marik just seemed shocked; how could he have not heard of this until now? I mean _she_. Gosh, he needs to stop doing that…

Ryou turned to Marik, smiling kindly "So, where do you live?"

Marik blinked, "Uh… 5312, 22nd Ave…"**(2)**

Ryou's eyes widened, "That's a block form our house!"

Marik was shocked, "Really?"

Ryou smiled brightly, "Yeah! We could walk to school together!"

Marik glanced at Bakura's angry expression and grinned, "I'd like that a lot… So, should we go home?"

Ryou nodded, "Come on Bakura!" he said, grabbing his hand, "Let's go!" Bakura smiled as Ryou led him by the hands. He turned around and stuck his tongue out at Marik, who's eye started to twitch. He followed behind the twins. He may have been brave enough to comfort Ryou during the fight, but there was no way he was brave enough to hold his hand. I mean _her_ hand, ugh!

However, he _was_ brave enough to do this:

He reached forward and grabbed Bakura's hand, barely concealing a laugh when Bakura turned and glared angrily at him. "Let. Go," he said forcefully, sounding as if he was about to kill him and barely holding himself back.

Marik smiled cheekily, "Or what?"

Bakura was about to lunge forward and knock him to the ground when Ryou went in between them, separated their hands, and put them in his own so that they were holding hands in a line with him in the middle. He looked at Bakura, "No fighting… please?" he asked weakly.

Bakura felt his eye start to twitch, "Why are you telling me!" he yelled, "He started it!"

"You started it when we first met!" Marik yelled back. Then he smirked and flicked his eyes down to where his and Ryou's hands were and then back up.

Bakura ground his teeth. _I have to admit though_, he thought to himself, _that was a pretty sneaky move…_

They walked on in silence for the rest of the way, until they dropped off Marik at his house.

"Bye Marik!" Ryou said, waving at Marik from the driveway, "See you tonight!"

Marik laughed as he opened his front door, "Yup! See you tonight!" he said as he walked inside.

Ryou linked his elbow with his brothers, "Are you sure you won't consider singing?" he asked playfully.

Bakura shook his head, "No way." He was used to Ryou's random displays of affections by now, but he wasn't used to him showing them to _other_ people.

They started walking along to their house, but Bakura noticed that Ryou was biting his lip. He only did that when he wanted to say something that was on his mind. Bakura sighed, "What is it Ryou?" he asked irritably. He couldn't get the picture of Marik and Ryou holding hands and it irritated him immensely.

"I was just wondering…" he started fiddling with a strand of his hair - which Bakura knew meant that he was nervous, "… Are you… gay?"

Bakura blinked. "Why would you think that?" he asked. Usually Ryou wasn't so keen on things like this. Actually, he just didn't notice - back at their old school, a lot of girls liked him but he didn't notice, or maybe he noticed and didn't care…

"Well…" he started out, hesitating. It was times like this that Bakura wished his twin could just say what was on his mind. "You and Marik were out in the hallway… and he put his arm around your shoulder and held your hand -"

"Ryou," Bakura said calmly, trying to contain his anger, "do you think that I actually _like_ that pansy Egyptian?" he said the work 'like' with vile in his mouth.

Ryou shook a little bit from fear. He could tell that Bakura was seconds away from punching the thing nearest to him. "W-well…" he continued, "You never know… and you haven't had a girlfriend in a while…"

Bakura cussed, "Okay Ryou, I'll be honest with you: I. Don't. Know. If. I'm. Gay. But if I _was_, there is _no way in hell_ that I would fall for that… that… effeminate jackass!"

Ryou smiled slightly, "Okay then, now you have to have a better reason to not like Marik other than his preferences."

Bakura raised an eyebrow, "Why are you so sure he's gay?"

"He grabbed your hand."

"To _annoy_ me!"

"Well you still have to have a better reason now that you don't even know yourself!"

Bakura crossed his arms, but their elbows were still linked, "Well, for your information, I _do_ have another reason for not liking him."

Ryou seemed surprised, "Really?" he asked, "What is it?"

Bakura smirked, "That's classified information." Ryou rolled his eyes. Bakura then got serious. "Ryou," he said as he stopped them from walking and grabbed Ryou by both of his shoulders, "you do realize that Ishtar likes you right?"

Ryou blinked then smiled, "Uh-huh! He's a really good friend!"

Bakura sighed, "No…" he said. Damn it, this was harder than he thought… "Remember how I said that since people think you're a girl that you need to be careful?"

Ryou nodded.

Bakura's eye twitched, "… Ishtar is one of the people you need to be careful about."

Ryou blinked, "… Huh? Marik doesn't like me like that…"

Bakura reached up and started pulling on his hair, "Ryou, do you remember that one girl who liked you? And when I told you she did you didn't believe me until she told you herself?"

Ryou nodded, "Of course."

"Then _trust me_, Ishtar likes you."

Ryou spaced out for a second, then he came back to Earth and he put his hand up to his chin. "But… then Marik can't be gay if he thinks I'm a girl and likes me…"

"He told me that he has it in his mind that you're a boy."

Ryou turned paler than he already is. "R-really?" he managed to squeak.

Bakura nodded, "He keeps 'correcting' himself and saying 'her' or 'she' right afterwards though."

Ryou looked a little relieved, "Oh that's good… he doesn't know for sure…"

Bakura sighed and ran a hand through his hair; he hated worrying his twin, but it was necessary so that he'd be more careful, "I'm just telling you this so that you'll _be careful_."

Ryou stared at the ground twiddling his fingers before smiling up at his twin, "Thanks for warning me Bakura, but I can take care of myself."

Bakura raised an eyebrow.

"… Er… I can take care of myself with _this_ anyways…"

* * *

"Isis! I'm home!" Marik announced when he walked inside his house.

Isis' head popped from behind the kitchen wall, "Hey Marik! You look happy, something happen?" Isis was Marik's 17 sister.

Huh, Marik didn't even realize he was smiling. He walked into the kitchen to see Isis making lunch. "The new students came today."

"Really?"

"Uh-huh, they're boy-and-girl twins."

Isis smiled, "Is the girl cute?"

Marik blushed, "Um… yes…"

Isis' eyes sparked, "Oooh, looks to me like you like her!"

"What?" Marik said nonchalantly, "No! Of course not!"

Isis laughed. "Will my little brother finally get a girlfriend?"

Marik laughed a little nervously, "I don't know…" it was true that he had never had a girlfriend. He had never had a crush before either. "They're coming with us and the gang to karaoke night though…"

Isis smiled, "Well good! I hope you have fun!" Marik smiled and took an apple from the fruit bowl. "So," Isis asked, "what's her name?"

"Um… Bakura Ryou… Her brother's name is Bakura Bakura."

Isis blinked, "Really? That's weird…" Marik smiled at that.

"What do they look like?"

"They both have white hair and brown eyes, but Ryou's _much_ nicer than hi - _her_ brother," Marik corrected himself before he could say 'his' all the way.

Luckily, Isis didn't notice, "They look the same?" she asked. Marik nodded. "That's weird…" Isis commented, "Usually boy-and-girl twins look different…"

Marik shrugged. "When's Rishid coming home?" he asked. Rishid was Marik's 21-year-old brother.

"Probably ten-o-clock."

Marik nodded. "Well, I have to do my homework. I'll see you later Isis!" he said as he walked down the hallway to his room. He walked inside and laid down on his bed - he didn't have any homework, he just wanted to stop talking about Ryou…

His room was pretty small. He had a twin-sized bed with a blue comforter, a golden-colored carpet, caramel-colored walls, and a wooden dresser and desk. His closet was pretty small too, but he didn't really care about that. His dresser was littered with random papers, drawings, notebooks, colored pencils, and regular pencils. He stared at his desk now, then back at his ceiling.

He closed his eyes and placed his palms on his eyes. _Why can't I stop thinking about Ryou?_ He kept asking himself this question. He just met him today! I mean _her_ today! GAH! When will he stop doing that? Why did he keep thinking that Ryou was a boy when he was so obviously a girl? A picture of Ryou smiling came to his mind. He felt his face go hot. "Ugh…" he said out loud. He turned on his side and dangled his arm off the end of his bed.

He had been questioning a lot of things for… a long, long time… For instance: why didn't he have a girlfriend? It was obvious to see which girls liked him and which didn't, so why didn't he ask one of them out and get a girlfriend? Why didn't he find any girls attractive? He couldn't remember _ever_ liking a girl… Physically or emotionally. Why is that?

He started playing with the hem of his bedspread. He remembered one time in seventh grade when he found himself staring at a boy in class… The kid was a generally happy type, pretty nice, good at sports. Good-looking too… It was then that he started wondering if maybe he was… Maybe he didn't have a girlfriend because he didn't like _girls_. He had gotten depressed after that - he hadn't known what to do. He went through school keeping to himself mainly, he hung out with his friends, but he didn't speak much. He didn't want them to find out what he was questioning. However, during this time, it was like there was an increase in gay jokes. He saw them everywhere - at school, on TV, on the streets… he couldn't escape it for _five minutes_. It started to drive him insane. And not only that, but it seemed as if people knew of his questioning because they kept making gay jokes at him. Making fun of his Egyptian accessories and of his kohl, saying he was a half-cross-dresser, asking who he thought was hot or not in their class. He remembered wanting to kill some of his classmates that year.

Then, at the beginning of eighth grade, he had been starting to accept that… maybe he _was_ gay, but he didn't know how to tell for sure… But, again, as if his fellow students _knew_ of his almost-acceptance, they started being even meaner to him. Whenever he looked at _any_ boy, they looked at him and said, "Like what you see faggot?" Marik didn't know what to say at first, so he said no. But after this happened to him so many times, he said, "What if I do?" angrily at this one kid. He remembered the class going silent, and he wished that he had just kept his mouth shut.

After that, the jokes increased to the point where he couldn't take three steps without hearing some kind of joke about his sexual preferences. He remembered one kid asked him, "Bet you _love_ gym don't you?" and he had punched the offending kid right in the mouth - knocking him out cold. That was one of the only times when he let his anger get the better of him, usually he could calm himself down. However, his loss of control didn't stop the jokes. He couldn't take it anymore - he asked Rishid and Isis if he could change schools, and when they asked why he said it was because he wanted to make new friends. He couldn't tell his siblings that their little brother might be… gay… It would brake their heart.

Luckily, they seemed to understand and said he could change schools if he found a better one. Then he found Japarica Junior High and High School. Isis and Rishid both liked the curriculum and let him change. He felt so relieved - he wouldn't have to put up with his horrid, homophobic classmates anymore. He could make new friends and have a brand new start.

At least, that's what he had thought.

When he came in on his first day, almost everyone assumed that he was gay. The difference though, was that they were quiet about it. When he tried to talk to the boys and make some friends, he could tell they were nervous, and when he talked to the girls they seemed _too_ enthusiastic about talking to him. He didn't understand why he was having trouble making friends with the boys, he didn't realize that his Egyptian Accessories and kohl automatically made people assume he was gay. However, he quickly realized that everyone just assumed that he was gay and began to feel depressed. How the hell was he supposed to make friends if no matter where he went, people would assume he was gay, even if he didn't know himself?

After many more failed attempts at making friends, he finally talked to a person who talked back without sounding nervous - Atem. Marik had been sitting at an empty lunch table, not wanting to sit with the girls, and knowing the boys would just say their table was full or something, Atem had walked up to _him_ and asked, "Can me and my friends sit here?"

At first, Marik thought he was joking. "Um… sure…" he said hesitantly. Atem smiled and waved at his group, "It's clear!" he said. Then they all walked forward.

"Hey man!" a blonde man said as he slapped him on the back, "I'm Jounouchi Katsuya, what's up?"

"Um -" Marik was about to answer when Honda showed up and introduced himself as well. That was when he had met 'The Friendship Gang' as they were known around the school. Yugi and Anzu seemed to be the king and queen of the group, Atem and Kana-chan were second-in-command, Amora and Jounouchi were the 'muscle' or 'knights' so to speak, and then there were the rest: Honda, Miho, Mandai, and now, him.

They were great, they didn't judge him, they never even asked if he _was_ gay or not. One time he asked if the rumors bothered them, and they said they don't personally care either way. He felt happy with them, glad that he finally had some true friends.

However, then he met Otogi Ryuji. The biggest homophobe in the planet, even though he acted 'gay' too. He even wore jewelry and wore eyeliner too, but no one called him gay because he had a different girlfriend almost every day.

He passed him in the hallway once, and Otogi said, "Bet you wish I was your boyfriend don't you?"

Marik froze and turned around slowly. He smiled creepily and said, "I bet that's what _you_ wish."

Otogi's eyes widened and he scowled, "Yeah right! I'm not the faggot here! Plus, I have a girlfriend."

Marik tilted my head to the side nonchalantly, "Are you sure you're not just in denial?"

Otogi looked positively livid, and he pushed Marik down. Marik glared at him, stood up quickly, and slammed him into the lockers. Otogi smirked at him, "Huh, PMS much?" Marik kicked him in the head to silence him, and that's when he met Pegasus.

The white-haired man had put a hand on Marik's shoulder and asked him to come to his office. He glared at Otogi one last time before following the guidance counselor.

"What exactly happened back there Ishtar-san?" he asked.

"He taunted me!" Marik screamed, "I'm sick of all the gay jokes! Can't I just live without being made fun of?"

Pegasus nodded. "I understand your pain Marik - people thought I was gay when I was your age too, simply because of my voice and how I acted."

Marik blinked at him. "… Really?"

He nodded, and smiled slightly. "But I didn't let it bother me much because I knew it wasn't true."

Marik averted his gaze to the plant on his desk, "Yeah? Well…" he felt his heart beat speed up. Was he really going to tell a _school guidance counselor _that he wasn't sure if he was gay or not? What if he got kicked out of school or something? What if he told his siblings? "I… I don't know anymore…" he said.

Pegasus nodded, as if he understood. "Being a teenager's a difficult time Marik, it's when you start to question yourself, try to find out who you are. It's perfectly natural to question ourselves," he looked into his eyes, "but, finding out who we are is only the first step. The second step is accepting who we are," he leaned back in his chair, "What step are you in?"

Marik looked directly at Pegasus. "… I think I'm at the first step still…"

Pegasus nodded. "All right. Whenever you feel troubled, feel free to stop by Ishtar-san. I'll be happy to talk with you about anything. Anything at all."

Marik stood up and bowed, "Thank you sensei."

"Oh please," Pegasus laughed, "Call me Pegasus, and I'll call you Marik-kun, how about that?"

"Um…" to be honest, Marik didn't like being called 'kun' either, but he figured there wasn't much harm, "Sure…"

It was later that Marik realized that Pegasus had seemed to know what had been troubling him even before he told him, and after that, Marik visited him whenever he needed to vent. He used to visit him once every week, but by the end of eighth grade, he had stopped needing him so much and only stopped by once a month. By the beginning of ninth grade, he barely showed up at all. Which was probably a good thing, since everyone thought that he was really creepy… But he was still on the first step… He just didn't know - he didn't like any girls, but he didn't necessarily like any of the boys either. Sure, he thought that some of them were good-looking, but that was it. He didn't _like_ anyone. He assumed he was gay, considering he couldn't decide whether or not girls looked good even when asked, but he could tell you right away which boys were 'hot or not.' He just wasn't attracted to the girls at all. He had seemed to come to term with his confusions and didn't let it affect him much though. He took all of the gay jokes in stride, either ignoring them or retorting back. He had never gotten as angry as he had the other two times.

And then the Bakura twins came to town.

When he first saw them, he thought they were both boys, but he remembered Anzu told him that one was a girl named Ryou. He could guess which was the girl right away - it was obviously the one with the gorgeous eyes and cute smile. He liked Ryou right away, she seemed really nice and considerate, and she didn't look half-bad either… actually, she looked really… cute…

Marik felt so confused when he met Ryou. He was gay wasn't he? Then why did he blush and feel happy when Ryou smiled at him? Ryou was a girl… wasn't she?

Marik shook his head. "Yes," he said to himself out loud, "Ryou is a girl… she is _not_ a boy…" but even as he told himself that, he didn't believe it - not one bit. He didn't know _why_ he thought that - especially since Bakura kept threatening him whenever he got close to his _sister_. Speaking of Bakura… Ugh, that jerked pissed him off so much. He couldn't remember the last time he had felt so angry! How had he done that? How had Bakura gotten under his skin like that? It's not like he had said anything that he hadn't heard before… maybe it was just the way he said them. He was so arrogant and sarcastic… Ugh! It was obvious he thought highly of himself, but it was fun to swap insults with him - he had to admit that. He may have been aggravating and only cared for himself, but he was pretty fun to talk to. It was like they were natural enemies, sent to improve each other's wit and comebacks. And, he didn't know… it was easier to be himself around Bakura. Even though he was in 'The Friendship Gang,' he still felt as if he couldn't act like himself, but with Bakura it was so easy to be the sarcastic, smart-ass he was inside. It was easier to do the things he would love to do, but didn't because people would take it the wrong way. Like when he put his arm around his shoulder or held his hand today. Marik smirked. He could tell that annoyed him a lot, probably because it seemed like he didn't know if he was gay either… but he had a sister complex… What's up with that?

_It's like he likes his sister…_ Marik thought,_ but that's wrong! Siblings aren't supposed to like each other that way… maybe he's just overprotective…? But he seemed _really_ pissed off when I was holding Ryou… More pissed off than a regular overprotective brother should be…_ his cheeks flushed when he remembered the feel of Ryou pressed up against him.

He started pulling on his hair, "What the hell is wrong with me?" he asked out loud. Did he like Ryou? But… She was a girl! Wasn't he gay? But… Still… Ryou was a good person, that much Marik could definitely say. He didn't like violence, he was cute and adorable like a kitty-cat, he was nice to _everyone_, he tried to end all fights before they started, he always told the truth, it seemed as if he put everyone else's needs before his own, and… he was just so fun to be around… Only _he_ was a _she_, no matter what his messed up mind kept telling him. And the thing was, he found himself not caring if Ryou was a girl _or_ a boy, he just liked _Ryou_, he found that gender did matter to him.

"Maybe…" he said quietly to himself, "…Maybe… I'm not gay…? Maybe… I'm bi?"

Marik groaned. He didn't know, he just didn't know!

* * *

"C'mon Bakura!" Ryou called to his twin as he skipped ahead of his twin towards the karaoke place, "We're almost there!"

"You said that _five minutes ago_," Bakura said irritably, "I'm starting to think this place doesn't even _exist_."

"Of course it exists!" Ryou said, turning around and skipping backwards so he could look at his twin better, "Yugi-kun wouldn't lie!"

Bakura groaned, "Are you _already_ calling everyone by their first names?"

Ryou giggled, "Maybe," he said jokingly. The truth was - he _did_ call almost everyone by their first names. But Bakura didn't need to know that… "Are you sure you won't sing?" he asked once again.

"Ryou, read my lips: I'm. Not. Fucking. Singing. Ever. Did you get that?"

Ryou smiled jokingly, "Would you sing if Marik-san sang with you?"

"_I do not like that girly-looking bastard!_" Bakura screamed.

"Okay, okay! No need to get so angry…"

"I think there's _perfect_ need to get angry."

"Well…" Ryou turned around and saw the karaoke shop, "There it is! Let's go!"

"Good," Bakura said, "I was starting to get tired. Plus, it's getting darker out."

The twins walked into the karaoke shop. It was a nice-looking place, but it could've been just a little bigger. There were tables attached to the walls with chairs, and in the back was the stage with the TV screen to see the words and the microphone stands in case people wanted to sing as a group. Right now, a 20-year-old girl was singing a song that neither of them knew. They looked around for their group, but couldn't find them anywhere. "… I guess we're the first ones here…" Ryou announced.

"You think?" Bakura said sarcastically.

Ryou smiled at Bakura. "Since we're the first ones here," he said, "how about you sing!"

Bakura growled, "Ryou, when I said I wasn't singing, I _meant_ that _I'm. Not. Singing_."

Ryou pouted, "Come on! I'll sing with you!" he offered as a last resort.

Bakura stared angrily at his twin, but Ryou could tell he was re-thinking it. The older twin sighed, deciding that if Ryou was already singing a duet with _Marik_, then he should sing a duet with Ryou too. "Fine… I'll sing a stupid song… but as soon as one of our 'friends' show up I'm jumping off that stage and never getting on again."

Ryou's face brightened. "Yay! Let's go pick the song!" he grabbed Bakura's hand again and led him through the small crowd of people to the place with the song books. Bakura suggested a song that he had never heard, but he assured that it wasn't bad or anything - just angry-sounding. Ryou wasn't sure if he would like it or not, but it was probably the only chance to get Bakura to sing something so… He filled out a song card and handed it to the person in charge of the music. Bakura looked up at the man and blinked, then he scowled. "That's right," he said, "We have to wait in line… You realize I'm not going to sing if our friends gets here and he calls our name right?"

Ryou smiled, "But they'll hear your name and won't let you sit it out."

Bakura stared at his younger twin, "… You planned this… didn't you?"

Ryou smiled innocently - which means he just smiled, "I simply made a deal and you took it!"

Bakura said every cuss word he knew to himself. Knowing the knew 'friends' they had made, they wouldn't let him sit this out…

Ryou giggled, and turned his attention back to the front door, which just opened to reveal Marik. Ryou ran off to go greet him since it would be rude to yell across the store. Bakura noticed his quick departure and followed after him.

"Hey Marik-san!" Ryou said, "No one else is here yet, so we should probably grab a table."

"Let's take the one by the window," Marik said, pointing to an empty table that was, obviously, by a window. Ryou walked on ahead to the table, but Bakura stopped Marik by grabbing his shoulder, "Looking forward to you little duet with Ryou?" he asked mockingly.

Marik smiled blatantly, "Would it bother you if I said yes?"

Bakura scowled, "Well, just so you know, I'm _also_ singing a duet with Ryou."

Marik raised an eyebrow, "Remember how you said it was obvious that I liked Ryou? Well, it's obvious that you do too."

Bakura narrowed his eyes. "So you admit that you like her!" he said, choosing not to comment on him obviously liking Ryou.

Marik blinked and then blushed, "N-no I didn't! I'm just saying -"

"Hurry up you two!" Ryou called, not wanting to walk over there again.

Bakura mentally slapped himself when he saw the grin on Ryou's face. "Great," he said out loud, "this isn't helping his belief that I like you…"

Marik's eyes widened, "What?" he asked, "Ryou thinks _you_ like _me?_ HA! That's the funniest thing I've heard in years!" Marik burst out laughing.

Bakura scowled, "Just get walking before she assumes anything else."

Marik looked at Bakura, "What's the hurry _my dear_," he asked jokingly, "let's enjoy each other's company first!"

Bakura smiled, joining in on the joke, "You're right _Mari-chan_, there's no rush! We don't need to listen to anyone or anything -"

"Since we're so _obviously _in _love,_"they said in unison before they burst out laughing. Ryou just smiled at them. He was happy that Bakura found someone to make him laugh - a _good_ person, not any of those 'bad boy' chaps he was so fond of - and he was glad that Marik and Bakura were getting along better. However, after they were done laughing, they glared at each other. "Don't think this means I like you make-up boy," Bakura told Marik.

"Wouldn't think of it, though I have to say, 'Mari-chan' was pushing it just a _little_ to far."

"I know what you mean, I didn't even like _saying_ it." With that they walked over to where Ryou was sitting. He was sitting next to the wall, but a few other people could easily sit next to him. Marik tried to slide in next to Ryou, but Bakura blocked him and tried to sit there instead. Soon, it turned into a little fighting match that Ryou didn't understand what it was even about. It seemed to him that they just didn't want to sit next to each other… Guess there was still some dislike for one another… "Guys?" he interrupted. The two teens looked at the effeminate boy (or girl in Marik's case), "How about I just sit in the middle again?" he offered.

Bakura scowled, about to decline, but Marik said, "Okay" before he got the chance. Ryou slid out of the booth, and Bakura scooted to the end, followed by Ryou, then Marik. Bakura and Marik kept glaring at each other though, making Ryou feel uncomfortable. Luckily, just then Amora showed up with Mai. Ryou waved to them, "Hanamia-san! Kujaku-san! We're over here!" he would have gotten up and greeted them properly, but he didn't want to make Marik move for his sake. The two girls went over to him. "Where is everybody?" Mai asked.

"And by that she means, "Where's Jounouchi-chan?"" Amora translated. Mai glared at her before Marik said, "We're the only ones here so far."

"Oh darn," Amora said, sliding into the booth so that she was across from Bakura, "I was looking forward to taunting Jounouchi-kun before Mai-san took him all to herself…"

Mai sighed as she slid next to Amora, "I do wish you'd stop saying things like that… no wonder Jounouchi agreed to fight you."

Just then, as if he had heard them talking about him, Jounouchi walked into the shop. "Jounouchi!" Amora called loudly while waving her arm frantically, "We're over here!" Many people turned and shushed her, but she ignored them. Jounouchi walked over to them. "Hey guys!" he said cheerfully, but then he saw that the only seat left was the one next to Mai… He laughed nervously while rubbing the back of his neck with a fake smile on his face, "Guys… we're gonna need more than one table for our whole group! We'll need at least two! I'll go secure another -"

"Me and Ryou-san will secure the other table!" Amora interrupted as she squirmed out from the booth, walked over the table and onto the floor. "No offense Marik-san, but move!" Marik chuckled before getting out of the booth to let Ryou get out, "I guess you're being summoned?" he said as he offered Ryou his hand. Ryou smiled, took the hand, and was helped out of the booth, "I guess so," he said while giggling.

"There you go Jounouchi! Now you can relax!" Amora said as she pushed him into the seat next to Mai, "C'mon Ryou! Let's go get another table!" she grabbed Ryou's hand to go in search of another table, leaving Jounouchi and Mai sitting together awkwardly at the table. They glanced at each other. Mai smiled, and Jounouchi looked down, his hair covering his face and a light blush. Mai chuckled softly. "Come on Jounouchi," she said, "where's that confidence now?"

Jounouchi didn't answer at first. "Do you…" he said, out of the blue, "Do you want to sing a duet with me?"

Mai blinked at him, then smiled, "I'd love to Jounouchi, but you need to act like yourself first."

Jounouchi gave her a cocky grin, "Act like myself huh? That'll be easy!"

Marik and Bakura both rolled their eyes at the almost-couple, and then they noticed that they were sitting next to each other. They glared, then crossed their arms and looked away form each other. They didn't hear one of Ryou's famous giggles, neither did they hear one of Amora's rare silent laughs. They had found a table relatively close to their companions.

"We'll have to wait here until another table opens up that's closer," Amora said as she and Ryou were seated at the booth facing each other.

Ryou smiled, "Why are you trying to get them together?"

Amora smiled, "My name means love… So I think it's my duty to get people together. Besides, they're _perfect_ for each other. Look at them!" Ryou turned to look, and saw Jounouchi saying _something_ that made Mai laugh. Ryou smiled, "You're right, but aren't _you_ looking for anyone?"

Amora shook her head, "Nope. I don't need a man in my life, they're stupid anyway."

Ryou laughed, "You sound like you're in third grade."

Amora stuck her tongue out, playfully at Ryou. "Besides," she continued, "this is good practice since I want to be in charge of an internet dating service when I grow up."

"That's a cool dream, I bet most people don't expect that from you do they?"

Amora shook her head, "Nope. Most people think I'll end up in a back alley fighting illegally or something for money… When I tell them my actual dream, they laugh at me…" Amora seemed a little hurt by this.

Ryou looked at her, "I don't think you're dream should be laughed at," he said, "I think that's very selfless of you. It proves that you have a good heart," Ryou smiled, "and a strong punch."

Amora laughed, "Thanks Ryou, that means a lot coming from you…" Just then, Anzu and Yugi showed up in front of them. "Hey Amora-chan!" Anzu said, "Ryou-san! Why are you guys over here?"

Amora smiled. "I'm trying to get Jounouchi and Mai together! I think it's working…" she said glancing at the table again. They certainly _seemed_ to be having fun.

Yugi laughed, "You might want to go back there," he said amusedly, "I think Marik and Bakura are about one step away from killing each other."

Ryou stood up quickly and walked back over to them. "Hey guys! We secured a table!" Ryou said to them. Marik turned and smiled at Ryou, but Bakura was being more stubborn and continued to stare out the window. Marik got out of the booth so Ryou could get back in, since he figured it was not wise for him to sit next to Bakura any longer. Ryou scooted in next to Bakura and poked him in his shoulder, "Stop moping Bakura."

Bakura didn't even flinch, "I'm not moping."

Ryou folded his arms, "Yes you are."

"No I'm not."

"Yes you are."

"No I'm not."

"Yes," Marik interrupted, "you are."

Bakura turned his head and glared at him, "I wasn't talking to you."

Marik shrugged, "You responded anyway."

Ryou smiled at Bakura, "Cheer up Bakura! We're supposed to be having fun!"

Bakura scoffed, "Yes, because watching Jounouchi and Kujaku flirt is _fun_."

Ryou pouted, but then he remembered something as he turned to Marik, "We still have to pick what song we're gonna do!"

Marik smiled, "Why don't you go pick it out?"

"Ah! Jounouchi," Mai said, "we should go pick out our song too!"

"All right!" Jounouchi said, "Let's go!" he grabbed Mai by her hand - surprising her a bit - and they walked over to the song book table. Marik got out of the booth once again and gestured for Ryou to get out. Ryou smiled, went out of the booth, and followed the previous couple to the song book table. Marik scooted in next to Bakura again. "Why do you hate me anyways?" Marik asked as he leaned on his elbow.

Bakura looked at him, "I hate you because you like my sister."

Marik raised an eyebrow, "So you're saying if I didn't like your sister, then we might be friends?"

Bakura smirked, "Why? Is that what you want?"

Marik shrugged, "Just wondering…"

It was silent while they waited for the rest of their companions to come back.

"Probably not," Bakura said suddenly.

Marik gave him a confused look, "What?"

Bakura looked him in the eyes, "We probably wouldn't be friends."

"Oh."

Marik knew he had walked into a trap when he saw Bakura smirk. "We'd be _boy_friends," he said while wiggling his eyebrows.

Marik rolled his eyes, "With each new sentence you utter, the more I know for certain that you _are_ gay."

"And with each blush that passes through your cheeks the more effeminate I think you are."

Marik pressed a hand to his cheeks. Crap. He _was_ blushing. He ground his teeth in anger.

There was more silence, until Bakura broke it again: "I probably am."

Marik didn't speak again, because he didn't want to fall into another trap. But his curiosity was too great. "Are what?" he asked.

"Gay."

"How can you say that so easily?"

Bakura shrugged, "I've only liked one person my entire life…" he muttered for his own ears only.

It was true - he had only liked one person his entire life. Well, as long as he could remember anyway. He remembered growing up… He had felt a sort of attachment to Ryou. He felt the need to protect him from everyone and everything, and he didn't like it when he was so nice and touchy with other people. He wanted Ryou all to himself. His father had told him that was called "brotherly love," but after a while… he didn't think it was just "brotherly" anymore. He wasn't sure when it changed, but it did. He remembered hating it when Ryou hugged anyone other than him. He remembered that he had always been the one Ryou ran to if he was scared, and he was proud and damn happy about that fact. He remembered loving every little, insignificant thing Ryou did; his smile, his laugh, his words… he just… he wanted Ryou to always be smiling; he liked Ryou the most, and he thought that Ryou liked him the most too.

Then, he remembered when Ryou first started dating… he had been completely and totally against it, he had tried to scare of any and all people that liked him, and he succeeded. But, then he saw Ryou looking unhappy one day, and when he asked him what was wrong, he had said he was a little lonely…

After that, Bakura didn't try to scare them all of anymore - only the ones he didn't think were good enough for Ryou (which was practically all of them…) but then one day, Ryou confided in Bakura that he thought he was in love.

Bakura remembered feeling… for lack of a better word, like his heart had shattered, but he didn't let Ryou see that. He smirked and said, "Well, little Ryou's finally interested in a girl, who would've thought?" He observed Ryou for a few days, and noticed a sharp increase of his happiness whenever he was around that girl he said he liked… Personally, Bakura couldn't understand that at all, since he had never liked a girl like that. But, when he saw how happy she made Ryou… he tried everything in his power to keep them together. He actually tried being… _nice_, to her - which was _very_ hard for him to do, especially since she was so close to Ryou.

Unfortunately, this girl who Ryou thought was 'the one' was the girlfriend who broke his little heart - and the girl who's leg got broken by Bakura. After that, Ryou had said that he wasn't going to date ever again. Bakura couldn't help but feel a _little_ happy about that - he wouldn't have to share Ryou anymore - but the broken look in Ryou made him feel sad - guilty even. Though he didn't know why he felt guilt.

He knew that his liking Ryou appeared _wrong_ to people… but it didn't seem wrong to him, not at all. Why should it matter if they were related? He liked who he liked right? Besides, he couldn't find another person who he liked more than Ryou. So until that day, Ryou remained the person he liked the most - even if that might be 'wrong.'

He didn't feel like telling Marik this though - he'd much rather have him think he had a sister complex than know how much he cared for someone other than himself. A sister complex was less… embarrassing to him.

Honestly, the reason he disliked Marik so much was because it seemed like Ryou was happier around him… and he remembered how well _that_ had ended the first time. He just didn't understand how anyone could make Ryou happier than he could, how did they do it?

Bakura was forced out of these thoughts when he saw a ghostly white hand wave in front of his face. He blinked his eyes back into focus and turned to see Ryou looking at him with a concerned expression on his face.

He looked so cute, with his eyebrows scrunched together in worry, his brown eyes showing concern, his lips slightly parted… Oh god, his lips… How could he resist? How could _anyone_ resist? But if he did anything like that, Ryou would probably be afraid of him. So he had to suppress these urges - all of them. Instead, Bakura smirked, "Aw, was my little sister worried about me? Thanks for worrying Ry," he put his arms around his shoulders, watching with delight as Marik scowled. He wondered if Marik thought it was weird that he liked Ryou… By the looks of it, it didn't seem like it. Ah well, unimportant.

"All right!" the song announcer said into the microphone as people clapped the last people who had been singing off the stage, "next up is Bakura and Ryou!" everyone clapped and Bakura froze - he had forgotten that he promised to do a stupid duet.

Ryou looked at Bakura, "Come on 'Kura!" didn't Ryou know what he did to his heart every time he said the word 'Kura? That's why only Ryou was allowed to call him that. "It's time for our duet!" he started pulling on his arm, and he scowled at his twin. It didn't matter if he liked Ryou or not - he was _not_ going to sing. "I've changed my mind."

Ryou pouted, "C'mon," he pleaded while he put his hands together like he was praying, "_Pleeeeeaaaaase?_" Bakura shook his head. Ryou pouted more, then he turned to Marik, "Bakura's being stubborn, will you sing with me?"

Marik smirked at Bakura, "_I'd_ be _happy_ to sing with you Ryou-san."

Bakura turned his full on glare at him, "Like hell you are - come on Ryou, we've got a stupid song to sing."

* * *

"… I can't believe you all _stood up_ and _cheered_, why would you _do that?_" Bakura asked irritably as he slammed his head on the table.

Everyone laughed, " 'Cause we love you man!" Jounouchi said.

"You weren't bad Bakura-san!" Yugi said, "I don't know why you're embarrassed."

Bakura's head shot up, "Embarrassed? I'm not embarrassed - I just don't like unwanted attention. Especially not for singing."

"But you're really good!" Atem said, "You and Marik should start a band!"

Marik burst out laughing and Bakura scoffed, "As if we could stand each other?" they asked in unison. They turned and glared at each other. "We need to stop doing that," Marik said.

"I couldn't agree more," Bakura said.

"Why do you hate singing so much Bakura?" Ryou asked.

Bakura looked at his twin with a look that said "you should know…"

Ryou smiled, "You still remember that?" Bakura nodded. Ryou giggled, "I can't believe that still bothers you!"

Bakura grumbled to himself, "Shut up…"

"What are you talking about?" Jounouchi asked.

"Yeah!" Amora said, "Tell us!"

Ryou smiled, "In fifth grade -"

"Don't you _dare_ tell them!" Bakura growled.

"Oooh," Marik said putting his finger to his chin, "I wonder what's got 'Kura all in a huff."

Bakura glared at him. "If you call me that _one more time_ girly boy, those pretty earring are going down your _throat_." _Only Ryou can call me that_, he added to himself.

"Oh come on Bakura," Ryou said with a giggly, "it was so long ago! We should tell them."

"Yeah," Yugi said, "we won't laugh or anything."

"It can't be _that_ embarrassing," Kana-chan said - who had came in during Bakura and Ryou's duet.

"If you don't tell us," Atem added, "we'll assume the worst."

Bakura growled, "Fine! Tell them Ryou."

Ryou smiled, "In seventh grade, we had to be in choir -"

"We were _forced_ to be in choir!" Bakura interrupted, accenting it by pounding his fist on the table.

Ryou laughed, "Okay, we were _forced_ to be in choir, and the singing teacher wanted to make Bakura a soprano."

All was silent, then Marik burst out laughing. "A-a _soprano?_ That's hilarious!" he roared with laughter, and a few others joined in hesitantly.

Bakura glared at Marik with new-found hatred. "What's so funny brat?" he said, his voice low, deadly, and choppy, "at least _I_ hit puberty eventually."

Marik stopped laughing and glared at him, "What are you saying?"

"What do you _think_ I'm saying _boy?_"

Marik was about to yell, but then Ryou intervened, "Fortunately, Bakura was allowed to drop the class."

"What group were you Ryou?" Marik asked curiously.

"… High Alto…"

Marik burst out laughing, "Even your _sister_ had lower voice than you? That's hilarious!"

"I-I just couldn't hit those really high notes…" Ryou said, trying to make this less embarrassing for his brother. It wasn't working well…

"I would like to murder that teacher slowly and painfully…" Bakura said through grounded teeth.

"Next up!" the song announcer said, "Jounaku!"

"Who's Jounaku?" Honda asked.

Amora grinned, "It's Jounouchi and Kujaku! You combined your names! That's so sweet!"

Both teens mentioned blushed. "… The card wasn't big enough to put both our names…" Mai said, "So we combined them."

"L-let's go Kujaku-san…"

"Stop being so formal!" Amora complained, "Come on! Ryou's already on first-name basis with almost _everybody!_"

Both teens blushed more as they walked up to the stage.

* * *

"I can't believe it Jounouchi!" Mai said, outraged, "I knew you wouldn't be good at singing, but I didn't think you'd be _that_ bad!"

"Hey!" Jounouchi said, defending himself, "I did my best!"

"You completely embarrassed me up there! Look! Even our _friends_ are laughing!" she gestured angrily to their friends who were covering their mouths to try and stop laughing - except for Bakura and Marik who laughed openly.

Yugi cleared his throat, "You weren't _that_ bad Kujaku-san…"

"Yeah!" Anzu joined in, managing to stop her laughing long enough, "I mean… It certainly was… interesting…"

"It was hilarious!" Bakura said accompanied by loud laughter.

"Not as funny as Bakura being a soprano," Marik joined in, "but pretty close!"

Bakura glared at him.

"I-it wasn't that bad Kujaku-san," Ryou said, not being able to wipe a smile off his face, "Look around, everyone loved it!" they looked around and people were still laughing and clapping for them even though they had gotten off the stage a minute ago.

Mai blinked at everyone, "Well…" she said hesitantly, "At least everyone else enjoyed it…"

"That's the spirit Mai-chan!" Miho interrupted, "I hope Miho-chan and Honda-kun's song come up next!"

"I think our and Ryou's song is up next Miho-chan," Marik said gently, "Maybe after that."

Sure enough, the announcer said, "Okay!" while still laughing, "Next up we have… Marik and Ryou!"

Bakura rolled his eyes, "You _had_ to put your name last didn't you Ryou?"

Ryou shrugged, "Come on Marik!" he said as he linked elbows with him, "Let's go!"

Marik blinked at him and smiled, "Sure."

"I warn you - I can't sing at all."

"You mean you don't have any of your brother's natural talent?" Marik said with a smirk, earning him another Bakura glare.

Ryou giggled, "Nope."

Bakura rolled his eyes, "You sing fine Ryou - you just need to be louder."

Ryou shook his head, "No, I just can't sing."

* * *

"You were really good Ryou!" Marik kept insisting when they walked off the stage.

Ryou just shook his head, "No I wasn't. You're just being nice."

"No! Really!" Marik insisted, "You're really, really good! Have you ever considered becoming a singer?"

Ryou blushed, making Marik's heart speak up for some reason. "Oh, I could never sing in front of so many people…" Ryou said with a wave of his hand.

"You did tonight."

"There's barely anyone here…" Ryou said quietly. Marik looked around and was surprised to see that there _was_ barely anyone here, there was their group of twelve and some other groups of five or three and that was about it.

Ryou and Marik got back to their table and their friends started clapping again, "You were great guys!" Yugi said, "You sound great together!"

Ryou blushed more, "Oh, that was mostly Marik I'm sure…"

Marik put his arm around 'her' shoulder, "Stop being so modest Ryou-san! You were great!"

When Marik put his arm around him, Ryou felt his face heat up more and his heart skipped a beat - but why?

"Yeah!" Atem joined in, "You were great Ryou! Don't sell yourself short!"

Ryou decided it would be better if he didn't speak anymore and he just sat down. Marik joined him with a chuckle.

They stayed until all of their friends had sung, and Honda commented that it was funny how Bakura had insisted he wasn't going to sing and yet he was one of the first ones to sing. Mandai agreed, saying, "That's really ironic!"

Bakura just ground his teeth as everyone laughed. "Laugh it up," he said, "it won't be so funny when you find your lockers missing something important."

Ryou turned to his twin, "You promised you wouldn't steal anything anymore!"

Bakura groaned in frustration. "How many things did I promise you?" he asked irritably, "I promised you I wouldn't get into any fights, I promised you I'd stop stealing things, is there something I'm missing?"

"You steal?" Marik asked.

Bakura shrugged, "We all have our hobbies," he smirked, "mine just came with the title of Thief King."

Marik's eyes widened. He had to admit that was… pretty hot… but there was no way he'd tell him that.

"You were called the Thief King?" Jounouchi asked.

Bakura nodded smugly, "Yup. There's nothing I can't steal."

Anzu raised an eyebrow, "And you never got caught?"

"A few times, but on purpose."

Everyone looked at him oddly. "Why did you get caught on purpose?" Marik asked incredulously.

Bakura smirked, "I wanted to see what juvie was like…" he said cryptically.

"You went to juvie?" Marik asked with a sense of urgency in his voice.

Bakura looked at him curiously, "Yes," he said, "why?"

"Er… No reason…" Damn it. Why did he think that was hot? There was no way he _could_ like this arrogant bastard, even if he _was_ the dangerous, hot type.

"Well," Yugi said, "we should probably go home now…"

Jounouchi stretched, "Yeah, I'm beat," he turned to Mai, "would you let me walk you home?"

Mai smiled, "I'd like that."

Marik grinned at Ryou, "Could I accompany you home as well Ryou-san?"

Ryou giggled, "Why certainly Marik-san."

Bakura growled. "I can walk my sister home myself thank you very much."

"Now Bakura," Ryou chastised, "be polite."

Bakura rolled his eyes.

Pretty soon, everyone was walking home. On the way to their house they all talked about the karaoke, laughing at Jounouchi's horrible singing, complimenting each other on their surprisingly good singing skills, or in Marik and Bakura's case: making fun of each other's singing skills.

"You were _so_ good at hitting those high notes '_Kura!_"

Bakura glared at him. "What did I tell you about calling me '_Kura_ princess?" he said as he reached for Marik's earrings. Luckily, Marik moved out of the way just in time.

As everyone went home, they all curled up in their beds and went to their separate dream lands. Marik managed to put aside his confusing feelings and trade them for sleep and happy, singy memories. Bakura stopped thinking about his 'wrong' love for Ryou and managed to fall into a dreamless sleep - his favorite kind. And Ryou managed to put aside the thought that he was lying to pretty much everyone he met and managed to sleep and dream about things the Girl's Club would talk about.

All in all, everyone had a wonderful time, and couldn't wait to see each other at school tomorrow.

Of course, Ryou had completely forgotten about a certain boy that went by the name of Otogi Ryuji.

* * *

… I couldn't figure out how to end this chapter… -_- I am disappointed in myself… but I'm also happy 'cause I updated so fast XD Well, when people tell me they really like my story, I feel compelled to update XD

**(1)**: Ever notice this seems to be a recurring theme in this fandom? "Only exception"? … Maybe it's just me… ^_^"

**(2)**: I made this address up… I don't even know if this address exists ^_^"

… I need to work on Marik and Bakura's relationship more… -_- They hate each other, but they enjoy each other's company, that's what I'm trying to go for… did I succeed? TELL ME IN THE FORM OF A REVIEW!

I'll go into more depth about Bakura's love for Ryou, but until then, this what you got ^^ I have something planned for that… actually, I have a lot of things planned for the future… THE FUTURE! XD (Clockwork would kill me…{Danny Phantom reference...})

~~~{REVIEW REPLIES!}~~~

**Vi**: Haha, I'm glad you liked it! XD and I know… the 3 pairings are competing! XDDD Lol, do you still like the way I made Bakura in this fic? I'll go deeper into his thoughts later… And I don't know when I'll make Yami Marik pop up… probably near the very end. That'll be, like, the last arc… XD I love all the pairings too… I'm glad you like the story! And I don't think you're on crack XD Just hyper XD Thanks for reviewing! Really! =)

All right guys, if you liked the chapter, review! If you didn't like the chapter, review and tell me why you didn't like it so I can fix it! Tell me if something bothers you about my story, I'll answer any and all questions as long as they're not relevant to the plotline… XD In other words, REVIEW! TELL ME YOUR THOUGHTS! I CRAVE OPINIONS! XD I love any and all reviewers! =)


	4. Questioning

Haha, so many people said my story was cute XD I'm just like… how is it cute? XD other than the fact that Ryou's in it… And a few (a few mind you) people said they like my writing style… what writing style? I don't know what mine is… ^_^" (I would have updated earlier, but there was an error with updating so... it's not my fault! Thank aem82 for telling me how to get rid of the error! (= )

Warnings: Confusing Ryou thoughts, Otogi OOCness (I think...)

ON WITH THE CHAPTER! (If you like Otogi… then you probably won't like this chapter… fair warning)

Chapter 4: Questioning

* * *

"Bakura!" Ryou called through the house, "Wake up! You're gonna be late for school!" The only response Ryou got back was a loud groan. Ryou laughed and then turned his attention back to his breakfast. Bakura always slept until the exact minute they had to go, scarfed his food down, and then walked with him to school. It was how he had always been, though Ryou tried to change that whenever he got the chance.

Soon, Ryou finished the blueberry pancakes he had been making and put them on the table to start eating. He loved pancakes, and he also loved cooking so he figured, why not cook some pancakes? Once he was done with his delicious breakfast, he did the dishes, went upstairs to brush his teeth, and grabbed his backpack. His backpack was sort of an aquamarine color, and he loved it. He walked downstairs and started putting his shoes on. "Bakura! I'm leaving!" he called upstairs. Sure enough, he heard a door open and footsteps coming down the stairs. Bakura looked like he was the living dead - he was not a morning person at all. He rubbed his eyes as he went into the kitchen, "Why does it have to be so bright so early…?" he mumbled as he shoved an entire pancake in his mouth.

Ryou laughed, "I'll walk to school with Marik-san today," he said to make Bakura hurry up. But he wasn't lying, so he walked out of the front door and started walking over to his friend's house. He didn't walk for long though before Bakura appeared next to him. "Did you do your dishes?" Ryou asked.

Bakura scowled, "Yes, I did my damn dishes. Why does school have to be so early in the morning? Why can't it start at noon?"

"Even if it did you would still complain."

"Damn right. School is stupid."

Ryou laughed again before they arrived at Marik's house. It appeared he had been waiting outside for them, cause he had been standing in the driveway and walked forward when he saw them. "Hey Ryou-san!" he greeted, completely ignoring the other twin.

"Hey Marik-san! I hope you weren't waiting long?"

"No, not long at all," he looked at Bakura, "I think your brother turned into a zombie."

Ryou laughed, "He's always like this early in the morning. He cheers up when we start walking."

"Though I don't think that will be a possibility since I have to walk with _him_," Bakura said, glaring at Marik.

"It's not exactly a walk in the park for me either," Marik commented as they began to walk to school, "but as long as Ryou's here, I can tolerate it at least."

Ryou sighed. And he had thought they were getting along better too…

They managed to arrive to school without someone being hurt, and they met up with the rest of 'The Friendship Gang.'

"Hey Ryou-san!" Anzu greeted, "How was your morning?"

"Well, his brother turned into a zombie, so I don't think it went that well," Marik commented.

Ryou giggled as Bakura glared at the tan boy, "It's not my fault I'm not a morning person; I'm a creature of the night! Not of the light."

"I just can't sleep," Atem interrupted.

Yugi sighed, "Tell me about it, whenever you can't sleep you always bug _me_. You may not be able to sleep, but I can!"

"Are you telling me you never sleep?" Jounouchi inquired.

Atem shrugged, "Not really, no."

"That's impossible," Honda said, "you have to sleep _sometime_."

Atem just shrugged again, "Sometimes when I get home I just crash on the couch for a few hours."

Everyone looked at him strangely, "… I don't think that's good for your health…" Kana-chan told him.

Atem shrugged, "It's fun to go around the house at night. See what's going on in the world."

"I bet you get all your homework done then huh?" Ryou asked.

Atem laughed, "Oh yeah! That's how I get all my projects done!"

"Doesn't your grandpa make you go to bed?" Marik asked.

Yugi shook his head, "No, as long as he doesn't get woken up he doesn't care."

"You live with your grandpa?" Bakura asked.

Yugi and Atem shared a look, "… It's a long story…"

Ryou nodded, understanding long stories perfectly well, but then he noticed Amora seemed as if she was looking for something avidly. "Hanamia-san," Ryou said, "what are you looking for?"

"I'm keeping lookout!" she said simply.

"Lookout for what?"

"Otogi of course!" she said turning her full attention to Ryou, "He's going after you, remember?" Almost everyone's expressions hardened at the mention of that name.

Bakura snapped to attention as Ryou blinked, "Eh… I kind of forgot…"

"How could you forget?" Kana-chan asked, disbelief written all over her voice.

Ryou shrugged, "I've never met the guy -"

"Good!" Marik interrupted angrily, "I hope you never have to meet that jerk!" Everyone stared at him for his sudden outburst. He just avoided eye contact and said, "I'm going to class…" before walking off to the classroom.

Bakura raised an eyebrow at this development, determined to find out more later, but right now there were more important things to worry about: "Ryou," he said, "what does she mean that this boy is 'going after you'?"

Ryou laughed nervously, "Um… I'm not really sure myself…"

Bakura crossed his arms, but decided to drop it - he'll find this 'Otogi' person later anyways.

"Er…" Jounouchi said, trying to make the awkward silence that had erupted go away, "so… Does anyone know what's for lunch today?"  
No one answered for a little bit, then: "I think it's sushi…" Honda said.

"No, that was yesterday's lunch…" Yugi said.

"Today's is… noodles I think?" Atem said, trying to remember.

"I think it's soup…" Anzu input.

As everyone tried to remember what the lunch was for today, Amora continued her lookout, but she couldn't find him anywhere… maybe he had gotten smart and decided to show because of her… She only hoped that was the case.

Soon, they decided to go to class as well, even though they still couldn't remember - or agree on - what the lunch was today, so Bakura said they should make a bet out of it. Whoever guessed the lunch right would have their lunch made for the rest of the month by everyone who participated. Everyone figured that was a fair trade and agreed on it. Although, Ryou couldn't help but notice that Bakura seemed very smug after the bet was made, and wondered what was up… Bakura had guessed that the lunch would be spaghetti, even though he doesn't eat and, therefore, should have no idea what the lunch menu was, so why did he make a guess? Furthermore, he hated cooking, so why would he risk having to cook? Ryou tried to figure it out as he took his seat, but couldn't come up with anything. He decided it wasn't important and shrugged it off as he took out the necessary supplies for his first class today - English.

Soon however, he found his head being tilted upwards by a finger under his chin. "Hey there good looking," said a man with spiky raven hair with part of it in a ponytail, emerald eyes, a dice earring in his left ear, eye-liner going down from his eye like a teardrop, a red and black headband, and wearing a black T-shirt with a red jacket, "I heard you're new in class, and we haven't been properly, _acquainted_, yet." He brought his face dangerously close to Ryou's causing him to blush - even he knew the implications of what he was trying to do. "My names Otogi Ryuji, and you are…?"

"Not interested," said a harsh voice behind Otogi. The dice-man looked up as he felt a firm grip clasp his shoulder, and what he saw was pretty frightening: a person who looked exactly like Ryou, only like he belonged in a psych ward. His eye was twitching and his mouth was curved into a wicked smile. "If you know what's good for you, you'll leave right now," he said dangerously, threateningly.

Otogi raised an eyebrow at him, "Who are you?" he asked rudely.

Bakura crossed his arms, "Who do you think I am genius? I look exactly like my sister, so why don't you take a wild guess? Geez, if you're going to flirt, at least be intelligent."

Otogi narrowed his eyes, "I realized you're her twin, but I don't know either of your names - no one in the other class knew except for Sagaki-san, and no way was I going to ask her!" Ryou tilted his head at that statement - why wouldn't he ask Anai-chan? She was nice, if not a bit shy.

Bakura smirked, "I am death itself - and soon you'll be on my to-do list if you even _think_ about going anywhere near my little sister, got that dice boy?"

Otogi smiled, "Isn't it up to her whether or not she wants to see me?" he turned around again and brought his face close to Ryou's again, causing Ryou to back up till his back was straight against the chair. Otogi chuckled, "C'mon, I don't bite… much…" Ryou blushed an uncomfortable crimson. "…P-please go away…" he said weakly. He had never been good at sticking up for himself, Bakura had always protected him. He especially didn't like how close his face was to his…

"What's that doll?" Otogi asked, "I can barely hear you over that beautiful hair of yours." Suddenly, the boy felt another hand grasp his shoulder, and he turned around to find a very angry Egyptian. "She said go away," Marik told his arch nemesis with barely concealed anger.

Otogi smiled at the blonde-haired boy and brought his face right up to Marik's, "Aw, the little faggot's sticking up for a fellow girl?"

Marik raised an eyebrow, "You're invading _my_ personal space and _I'm_ the faggot? That's messed up logic Otogi."

Otogi scowled, "I'm not the gay one here! You are!" he said, pushing Marik in his chest.

Marik scowled, "Do you want me to hurt you?"

Otogi scoffed, "Like you could!"

Marik took a step forward, his fists clenched, "Do you remember that day I pushed you into the lockers? I wouldn't mind doing that with a window this time!"

Otogi laughed, "You don't have the guts faggot!"

Marik lunged forward, but found himself being held back by an arm lock. He turned around to yell at the person to let him go, but found it was Bakura.

"Don't kill him just yet," Bakura whispered in his ear, "I have a plan that'll satisfy us both."

Marik raised an eyebrow, "What kind of plan?" he asked curiously before Otogi smirked and said, "Look everyone! Ishtar finally got himself a boyfriend!"

Marik growled and tried to lunge again, but Bakura held him back while he smirked. "You're just jealous 'cause you don't have one," he said arrogantly.

Otogi blinked, then his face contorted with anger, "I wouldn't want a fucking boyfriend! I have a girlfriend!"

Bakura raised an eyebrow, "Well, if you're happy with your girlfriend, then why are you flirting with my little sister?"

Otogi crossed his arms, "Just having some fun."

"M-hm, keep telling yourself that," Bakura said as he released Marik.

Otogi scowled, "What are you saying?"

Bakura smiled with fake innocence, "Me? I'm simply implying that you're never happy with your girlfriend because maybe you don't like girls."

Otogi stepped back in anger, "How dare you -!"

"He has a point Otogi," Marik joined in, realizing what Bakura meant now, "why else would you have a different girlfriend every day?" The students watching this scene started whispering to each other, saying things like, "That is true…" and "Why _does_ he have a different girlfriend every day?"

Otogi blinked, and Bakura swore he saw fear in those eyes as he heard the whispering turn more accusatory and curious.

"I-I'm a player!" Otogi said, trying to make everyone stop whispering, "I can't be tied down to one girl!"

"Are you really sure about that?" Bakura asked, enjoying the tension in the air as everyone was now silent - watching and waiting to see what would happen next; to see who would be victorious in this battle of words, "Are you sure you're not just confused, not just trying to prove to _yourself_ that you're straight?"

"I mean," Marik joined in again, "if you weren't confused, then why would you wear only _one_ earring and mascara on _one_ of your eyes? Can't decide which way to go?"

"Th-they make me look cool!" Otogi managed to stutter.

Bakura took a step forward, "Cool? How can they make you look cool, and make Ishtar look gay? It doesn't work like that Otogi."

"It's either one," Marik said, taking a step forward as well and causing Otogi to take a step back, "or the other. Which side do you play for?"

"I-I," Otogi stammered, "I don't have to prove anything to you!" he shouted.

"You're right," Bakura said, looking at his fingernails carelessly, "you don't have to prove anything to us, only yourself -"

"And that's proving difficult, isn't it Otogi?" Marik finished for him.

Otogi seemed at a loss for words, but just then the five-minute warning bell sounded. Otogi scowled at Marik and Bakura, "This isn't over queers!"

Bakura wiggled his fingers at Otogi with a fake smile, "See you on the flip side Otogi!" he said with fake sweetness.

Marik smiled, "Can't wait to see you again!" he said with mock eagerness.

Otogi just scowled again and stalked out of classroom 9-B.

All was silent for a little bit until the classroom erupted with cheers. Bakura grinned and took a bow, "It was nothing really," he insisted. Marik just laughed. "How did you know he was confused?" he asked the older Bakura twin.

Bakura chuckled, "Oh please, all of his actions just screamed, "gay questioning." I didn't know he changed girlfriends every day though - that helped a lot."

Marik laughed, "He won't be messing with _us_ anytime soon, right Bakura?"

Bakura chuckled darkly, "You got that right Ishtar," he turned to Ryou, "You okay little sis?" he asked.

Ryou, who had been watching the display with pink cheeks and a goofy smile, nodded. "I'm okay, thanks Bakura, Marik-san."

"It was no trouble at all!" Marik insisted, "I've been wanting to put him in his place since I first met him!" The bell rang just then, causing everyone to take their seats as the teacher walked in. "Okay class!" the teacher said, "Today we will learn…" as the teacher discussed the plan for the day, Ryou couldn't help but feel so lucky that he had two people who would protect him. He hadn't thought that Otogi could be that bad, he had just thought that he would flirt and that was it. Ryou could deal with flirting - most of the time he didn't even realize it when he heard it, so he figured he could deal with that and then he would just leave him alone. He didn't expect Otogi to get so… physical. He wasn't used to that - back when he had a girlfriend, he couldn't even kiss _her_ without blushing like crazy. He just couldn't handle close contact like that. Not at all. He could handle pain - that was easy - but he couldn't handle… the kind of things Otogi was doing and implying. And it was even worse since Otogi was a complete stranger to him. He hoped he never had to meet the boy again. But he couldn't help but think… _Marik and Bakura sure do make a great team… when they're not going against each other._

* * *

"Ha!" Bakura said at the lunch table as Yugi and Atem sat down with a plate of spaghetti, "I knew the lunch was spaghetti! Now you have to pay up!"

They looked at him oddly, "But you don't even eat lunch… why would you want to win?"

Bakura put his hands behind his head and smirked, "I may not eat lunch, but Ryou does. Make lunch for her."

They sighed as Ryou just took his seat. He looked at his brother curiously, "How did you know it was spaghetti?"

Bakura smiled and pointed to his head, "Intuition. You now have free lunch for the rest of the month Ryou - you're welcome."

Ryou laughed, but his laugh was cut short as an enraged cry broke through to their table, "Bakura!" Marik said angrily as he plopped his food down next to the pale boy whose name he just screamed. He was grinding his teeth and he looked positively livid.

"What?" Bakura asked, confused, "What did I do? I think I'd remember doing something to make you this mad."

"Do you know what people are saying?" the angry Egyptian said through grounded teeth.

Bakura shook his head, "No, what are they saying?"

Marik pounded his fists on the table, "They're saying that we're a couple!"

All was silent at the lunch table until Bakura finally reacted by his jaw dropping and his eyes going wide in shock. "What?" he asked, incredibility mixed with anger and a little fear, "Why?"

"That little stunt you pulled this morning! Otogi's been going around telling everyone that we're together!"

Bakura's face turned so red with anger that Ryou feared it would explode, "Bakura!" he said, his voice etched with worry, "Calm down! It's just a misunderstanding! You can clear it up in no time and -"

"That…" Bakura said, causing his twin to stop talking, "That… That _bastard!_ Is he really so immature that he'd stoop to that level? Where is he right now?" he asked, scanning the cafeteria through a red-hazed gaze for signs of the offending jackass.

"I already asked, no one knows."

Bakura's fists clenched in rage, "I just can't believe people are buying this! How could these… _idiots_ believe for _one second_ that we're together?" He had been expected to be met with murmurs of agreement, but was met with silence other than Marik saying, "Exactly!" He turned around to find that during their talk, all of the other gang members had showed up, and they were all looking down as if their food was more interesting than the current situation. Bakura raised an eyebrow, "Is there something you're trying to tell me?"

Yugi coughed, "Well…" he said, avoiding the two angry teen's glares and fidgeting nervously, "You do… um… fit well together…"

"_What?_" the teens said, outraged.

"It's true," Kana-chan said, "you may fight and yell at each other, but the little show you put on this morning shows that you _can_ work well together."

The teens blinked in astonishment.

"Yeah," Amora joined in, "besides, it's a proven fact that if you're in a relationship that doesn't argue or fight sometimes that you loose interest in the other and become distant and just don't talk at all because you're tired of them just agreeing with you all the time. So actually, fighting and arguing is healthy." Everyone stared at her in amazement, to which she just smiled smugly back.

"Wow," Jounouchi said, "I didn't think you were actually serious about that internet dating service thing you were talking about."

Amora stuck her tongue out at him, "Well believe it now, and I think that you two _could_ work, if you stopped being so dang stubborn."

Both teens scoffed. "As if!" Bakura said indignantly, "I hate him!"

"As do I!" Marik said.

However, everyone still had amused looks on their faces and the two angry teens could tell that they weren't convincing anyone of their truth.

Bakura stood up angrily, "I'm going to go look for that half-out lying freak," he said before stalking off angrily before anyone (Ryou) could stop him.

Ryou sighed, "I'm sorry…" he told Marik.

Everyone looked at him confused, "Why are you sorry?"

Ryou picked at his food, "If I could just stand up for myself you wouldn't be going through this…"

Marik looked at his newest friend and felt his stomach twist with just a little guilt. "It's not your fault, it's Otogi's fault for being so direct. And Bakura's for holding me back when I could have just knocked him out right then and there."

Ryou looked up and found Marik's eyes instantly, "But if I had told him to just go away…" he said quietly, "I'm sorry," he said again, extremely sincere, "can you forgive me?"

Marik blinked. Ryou's eyes were wide with guilt and the want to be forgiven, his lips parted slightly as he waited to hear Marik's response, his fingers fidgeting with the chopsticks in his hand. His whole body just screamed: "please forgive me" and "cuteness." Marik never saw anyone more cute or adorable at that moment; it should be a crime for anyone to be that cute! "Th-" he finally managed to stutter though heat was slowly rising to his face from the sheer cute-ocity of Ryou, "there's nothing to forgive!" he insisted.

Ryou smiled slightly, but still looked guilty, bringing his cute-o-meter to maximum and causing the heat to come more steadily to Marik's face. "Thanks Marik-san," he said right before he hugged his friend.

Marik swore his face was a hundred degrees at least, "Eh… n-no problem!" he said as he hugged 'her' back.

Everyone watched this development with interest, and Amora was having a hard time figuring out who was better for Marik - Ryou, or Bakura? However, she never got to figure this out, because just then everyone's least favorite homophobe showed up to the table. "Hey there everyone," he said arrogantly as he grabbed Ryou's shoulder, "sorry to interrupted female bonding time," he said as he pulled Ryou away to face him, "but we didn't get to finish our talk this morning."

Ryou looked up at Otogi and paled, just a little. "Wh-what do you want to talk about?" he asked, trying to take the fear out of his voice and failing. He couldn't get the memory of Otogi's face close to his out of his mind - and he didn't like the memory. Not at all.

"I want to know more about you doll," he said, bringing his face close to Ryou's again and making him blush and try to back away, but Otogi wouldn't let that happen as he grabbed Ryou's chin roughly and forced him to stay where he was, "Tell me _all_ about yourself.

"You have a lot of nerve showing up here Otogi!" Amora said, "Do you remember me? Yeah, I'm the girl that kicked your ass!"

Otogi scowled at the familiar, annoying voice and looked up - taking his face away from Ryou's but not letting go of his chin, "Yeah, but you won't be able to do it again girlie."

Amora scoffed, "I'll play along and assume that were true," she said with clear contempt, "I wouldn't be fighting alone, you have everyone at this table to worry about."

"Yeah!" Jounouchi spoke up, "You want to get to Ryou, you have to get through _us_ first!"

"That's right!" Honda said, joining in.

Otogi looked at the table, as if noticing the other members for the first time - which was probably the case. Ryou just wished he'd let go of his chin; he didn't like this, but he felt frozen with fear. Otogi scoffed, "Yeah?" he said, "Well, everyone at this table has _my_ friends to worry about," he said gesturing to his table where about twelve other people were sitting. They all looked tough and mean, and willing to do anything that Otogi told them to do. Occasionally they smiled at a few girls at a different table, and they would swoon over them. Marik felt sick at the sight - how could _anyone_ fall for those jerks?

"I think you should just leave Otogi," Atem spoke up, his voice hard and indifferent.

Otogi looked over at Atem and smirked, "Atem," he said like he was greeting an old friend, "long time no see, when was the last time we played a card game together?" Atem scowled. "Surely the Twin Kings of Games have been practicing?"

Yugi looked at Otogi, "Of course we've been practicing."

Otogi smiled, "Then how about a bet," he said, "we play one round of poker, if I win," he said as he put his face close to Ryou's again, "I get to take this adorable gal on a date, and if you win, I'll never bother you again, sound fair?"

"That is not for us to decide," Atem said coldly, "it is up to Ryou-san. Why don't you ask her if she even _wants_ to go on a date with you?"

Otogi scoffed, "Of course she does!" but he looked at Ryou with his penetrating eyes anyway, "So, _Ryou-san_, if I may call you that," he said for 'her' ears only, "how would you like to go on a date with me this weekend?"

Ryou swallowed, although his throat had gone dry. "I-I," he managed to choke out, "I… have other plans…"

Otogi seemed surprised, but then he scowled, "What?" he asked, his words soaked with disbelief, "Say that again! I don't think I heard you correctly." He tightened the grip he had on Ryou's chin, and Ryou feared that he would soon move his hand to his throat and start strangling him or something if he didn't agree to his demands.

Luckily for Ryou, Marik noticed the raw fear and pure panic in his eyes and pulled Otogi away from 'her' so that he was facing him instead. He had been trying to let Ryou stand up for 'herself' so that 'she' would feel better, but Otogi had went to far for him to continue that plan. "She said she had other plans Otogi," he said, his voice cold and contempt, "just leaver her alone."

Otogi sneered at him. "Ah, so you're alone this time huh? Where's your little boyfriend now? Did he ditch you because he couldn't deal with your mood swings?"

Marik's eyes burned with hatred and anger, but he managed to reply, "_Ryou's brother_ is right behind you looking extremely pissed off."

One spark of fear lit up his emerald eyes as he turned around to see if the fear-inducing, white-haired boy was indeed there, but he wasn't. He clenched his fists and turned angrily back to yell at Marik, but was met with a fist to the mouth instead. He recoiled and covered his jaw instantly, taking a few steps back instinctively before looking up to see an extremely pissed off Egyptian standing before him - and he didn't look like he was ready to play anymore, he looked like he was ready to kill.

It scared the crap out of Otogi, who had never seen him get that angry.

He looked at Ryou one last time. "This isn't over babe," he said, a definite tone in his voice, "you _will_ go on a date with me." He straightened his red jacket and walked away.

Marik sat down at the table extremely pissed off, but once he calmed down, a proud and satisfied smile took over his features. "Ah, that felt good," he said as he held his fist at eye level.

Everyone laughed, but then quickly tried to change the subject as Ryou was still looking down, embarrassed at what just happened. _Why can't I stick up for myself?_ he thought, _Why is it that all I could do was sit there?_ Ryou felt disappointed in himself. He couldn't rely on others all the time - he needed to learn to stick up for himself, but how?

Meanwhile, no one noticed a white-haired boy leaning against a cafeteria wall, looking at "The Friendship Gang." He had been standing there for a few minutes, watching the scene with Otogi. He had been about to intervene when Marik had taken care of the problem himself. And now he was talking to Ryou, trying to cheer him up. _Well,_ he thought, _I may not like him, but at least I can trust him to protect Ryou if I'm not around_.

He wasn't sure if he should feel happy that another person would help keep Ryou safe, or wary that someone else was getting so close to Ryou.

* * *

"So let me get this straight," Bakura said, trying to conceal his anger as class 9-B walked to the music room - their last class of the day for that day, "Otogi actually made a _bet_ to go on a date with my little sister?" he demanded to know from Atem.

Atem nodded. "Yes, he challenged me and Yugi because we're knows as the "Twin Kings of Games" because we've never lost a game in our life," Atem sounded a little proud and conceited as he said that - just a little, "we told him that it wasn't our decision to make, and - long story short - Marik punched him in the jaw so he would leave."

Bakura chuckled and turned his attention to the tan boy walking nearby. "Ah, I didn't think the little princess had it in him," he said mockingly.

Marik glared, "Believe it fluffy."

Bakura stopped walking and grabbed Marik roughly by the arm (noticing a surprising amount of muscle as he did so), making him stop too, "_What_ did you just call me?" he asked with disbelief and a touch of anger.

Marik smirked, "You heard me. _Fluffy_."

Bakura was about to retort when Ryou stepped in and said, "Please guys, we're going to be late to class."

They walked the rest of the way to class with little talking, though Marik said right before the bell rang: "Maybe you'll be a soprano again Bakura!"

Bakura glared and was about to yell at him when the teacher walked in, forcing him to be silent lest he want a detention - and he had a feeling that he had _promised_ Ryou he'd try not to get so many detentions like he had _promised_ him so many other things that he was seriously regretting. Ryou was lucky he was cute…

That day in music class they were playing the recorder - an instrument that the Bakura twins had been forced to buy. It didn't cost much, but that money could have been used for something more useful than an instrument that they were never going to even look at again when they were done with school. During most of the class, Ryou was thinking about the fact that he and Bakura were both going to have to find a job to make life more comfortable… what place would hire them though? Were there even any jobs available? He had been so lost in his thoughts that he had barely even noticed when the teacher asked him a question, but luckily he said the right answer anyways. Bakura noticed his brother's flightiness, but didn't say anything.

Pretty soon, Ryou was in the girl's locker room for another Girl's Club meeting. Amora was filling the girls in on what happened at lunch, and Ryou clarified anything that needed clarification, though he would rather just forget about the experience and Otogi altogether. Every time he thought about it he felt… uncomfortable… it wasn't just because Otogi was a boy and that he couldn't handle that kind of physical contact, no. It was because of the way he acted… that low, seductive voice, those penetrating, emerald eyes, that rough, warm touch, that cocky, overconfidence… It all made Ryou feel uncomfortable, but mostly because… a small part of him - a very, _very_ small part, miniscule even - sort of… when he leaned in close like that… he wanted him to just lean a little bit closer…

But of course, when he thought this he was stricken by fear and panic so strong that any miniscule amount of desire he felt was banished completely. Honestly, what scared him more than Otogi himself was the way he responded to it. He would rather just have Otogi not touch him at all, but when he did… he couldn't help but feel that little part of him… and he didn't understand that part at all. How could he think like that? He barely even _knew_ Otogi, so how could he think that thought? He was afraid of that part inside himself, small as it was, it was still there and it scared him. He didn't understand where it came from. Where _did_ it come from?

He remembered thinking that girls and boys alike were good-looking, but that was as far as his thought process had gone - they were good-looking. STOP. Because of that, he wanted to get to know them better. And, even Ryou had to admit, Otogi was certainly good-looking, but that acknowledgement had never caused him to want to be… _kissed_ before, especially not by a complete stranger! Or by someone so physical. What was he feeling? Small wanting mixed with immobilizing fear? What would you call that? _Why_ did he feel that? He had known Otogi was good-looking but… he was something else too… but Ryou couldn't decide what that something was… He wished he had never met this boy, this…

Suddenly, Ryou knew exactly what Otogi was, though he couldn't make his brain process the word fully. He was almost afraid too.

He had been questioning his own… sexual preferences for a little bit, though he didn't know how to exactly go about it. He didn't like people how you should, he wasn't… hm… what's the word… _attracted_ to people, he started to like them when he knew them better. After he knew them better - their likes and dislikes and everything in between - then he felt what he called love. He wanted to be near them whenever possible if not always, he wanted them to always be happy, he wanted them to like him too; it was then that he started to become _attracted_ to the person. That's why he didn't believe in love at first sight - you need to know the person before you liked them or were… _attracted_ to them. If Ryou was completely honest with himself, gender didn't matter to him at all - it was on the inside that counted and he firmly believes that.

So when Ryou thought of the perfect word to describe Otogi, he began questioning his entire methods, his entire belief system that you have to know a person before you could be attracted to them. But… he had to admit that… Otogi was… lustful… But that was it - he didn't like Otogi (how could he after what he did?) but he was sure that if he asked any of the Girl's Club members that they would agree with him.

And that scared him more than anything else.

Could he really think of someone as… er… like that… and not like them? Shouldn't it be the other way around? You like the person for who they are and then… for… _what_ they are? Ryou was trying to work out his thoughts - his very confusing and questioning thoughts - that he didn't even realize when someone called his name repeatedly.

"RYOU-SAN!" Amora finally broke through by practically yelling in his ear.

Ryou gave a little yelp of surprise, completely breaking his thought process. "I-I'm sorry," he said, "I wasn't paying attention… what is it?"

Amora sighed, "You've been sitting their looking nervous for so long we were starting to get worried."

"Oh…" Ryou said, noticing his voice sounded soft, "sorry… I'm just…" what could he say? He was questioning his entire belief system? Yeah, like they'd understand that unless he explained _all_ of it…

Ryou was so lost in wondering what to tell them that he didn't realize the worried stares he was receiving. Actually, even if he _had_ noticed them, he wouldn't have thought they were worried for _him_, he never thought like that. He didn't think that people felt sorry, or sad, or bad, or worried for his sake even though he felt those exact same things for everyone he ever met. He didn't think that if he was sad that people would try and cheer him up, even if he did exactly that if someone looked sad. Honestly, he didn't like it if someone was worried for him - he felt that people had enough to deal with already without him adding to their troubles. He just gave without expecting anything in return, so even if he had seen the worried stares, he would've just smiled to make them not worried anymore and assured them that he was fine.

Suddenly, he felt a pat on his back. He turned his head around to see Mai behind him. "It's okay Ryou-san," she said, "we just don't like seeing our friends like that. If these thoughts of yours are causing you to feel bad, why don't you share them?"

Ryou looked down. "I-I can't…" And he couldn't - he didn't want anyone to know what he was thinking about - it was embarrassing, they'd all think he was bad and sick if he said that he was… attracted to Otogi. He already felt dirty for _thinking_ such thoughts, how could he share them? He just couldn't.

All the girls felt sorry for 'her,' but they couldn't force Ryou to share if 'she' didn't want to, so they dropped the matter and decided to talk about something else.

"Remember the talent show last year?" a random girl asked.

"Oh yeah!" Mandai said, laughing, "remember that one guy who was balancing plates? He broke every single one!" she started laughing hysterically and all the other girls joined in.

"The funniest one was the guy who tried to make people disappear and just couldn't!"

"That wasn't funny, that was sad…"

"Remember the guy who tried to dance? He looked like a fish out of water…"

"Ha! That guy was hilarious!"

That girl who did baton twirling was good."

"I think the girl who did gymnastics almost broke her neck…"

"Who won anyway?"

"I think it was this one singer guy…"

The girls began talking about the talent show last year in an attempt to cheer Ryou up - and it was working. With each new act he heard he began to smile bigger and bigger until he was asking them questions and laughing hysterically at the answers. Leave it up to the girls to make him stop thinking about Otogi.

* * *

"See you tomorrow girls!" Ryou said as he walked out of the locker room and into the hallway. He saw Bakura was waiting for him, and he was almost disappointed when he saw that Marik wasn't there too. Though he didn't blame him - he didn't have to wait for him, he had other things to do. "Ready to go Bakura?"

His twin nodded, "Yeah, what were you talking about in there? You guys were laughing like hyenas…"

Ryou giggled, "They were telling me about their talent show last year. From what I've heard, I want to see this years! Though I hope no one gets hurt…"

Bakura rolled his eyes at the worried tone his brother's voice took on at the end. "Got everything?" he asked.

"I think so…" Ryou said as he looked into his backpack again, "Oh wait, I'm missing my history notebook…"

"Well let's go get it."

"Oh! You don't have to walk with me, it's my fault I forgot it. Why don't you go outside and I'll catch up?"

Bakura looked at Ryou and sighed. "Fine, hurry up." He walked away as Ryou began fast-walking to his locker. He couldn't believe he forgot his history notebook - he wasn't usually so forgetful. Before he knew it, he was opening his locker and reaching for his red, spiral notebook when he felt someone grab him by the shoulders and turn him around. He felt his back being pressed against a locker and soon he was looking into emerald eyes. "Fancy meeting you here," he whispered enticingly, "how have you been doll?"

Ryou felt his face heat up as he felt that one part of him rise to the surface again. He froze with fear, and he wanted to cry out, but couldn't because his throat clogged up - he was choking on his own fear and panic.

"Have you reconsidered my offer?" Otogi asked. _What offer?_ Ryou wondered, he was having trouble remembering anything at the moment.

Otogi chuckled deeply, "Speechless huh?"

Ryou didn't say anything as he felt his heart beat irregularly. He was trying to think of ways to get out of this, but none seemed possible unless he moved or spoke or did _something_.

"You're so cute Ryou," he said, dropping the honorifics altogether, "it's a shame that cuteness isn't put to good use…"

Ryou briefly wondered what he meant by that statement, but soon all of his thoughts were eradicated as he noticed Otogi's face leaning closer, and closer… Causing his heart to beat even more erratically and that one small part of him to start dominating his thoughts -

"_**NO!**_" Ryou cried mechanically as his body moved of it's own accord and pushed Otogi away from him, "No! Go away!"

Otogi stepped back in shock - he didn't think the 'girl' had it in her. He was about to step forward and trap 'her' - this time by pushing her wrists against the lockers, but Ryou quickly grabbed his backpack and the red notebook and ran for it. He ran faster than he's ever run in his entire life, but he needn't have run so fast or so hard because Otogi never chased _anyone_ - they chased _him_. Eventually.

Ryou ran all the way outside until he came face-to-face with Bakura. "What's wrong?" his twin demanded as soon as he saw the condition he was in, "What happened?"

"N-Nothing…" Ryou lied, "I just… wanted to… run…" he was panting heavily at this time, and not just from the running.

Bakura grabbed Ryou by the shoulders, and his eyes widened when his little brother winced. "Something happened Ryou," he said forcefully, "and I'm going to find out what it is whether or not you say something, so you may as well just tell me.

Ryou felt tears well up in the corner of his eyes, "I-I… Otogi, he was there… at my locker.."

Bakura's eyes glazed over with anger as he squeezed Ryou's shoulders tighter, "What did he do?" he said in a demanding voice, "Tell me!"

"H-he didn't do anything!"

"That's an obvious lie Ryou! He had to have done something to get you like this!" Though Bakura was getting a little frustrated, he had to feel a little proud that Ryou was finally learning to lie.

Ryou closed his eyes, "H-he… pushed me up against a locker… and said some things… and he-he tried to k… kiss me, but I pushed him away."

"You pushed him away?" Bakura asked, astounded.

Ryou nodded. Bakura's eyes widened. He had never seen Ryou fight back or do anything to defend himself - _ever_. He must have _really_ not liked that if he actually reacted…

Soon, Bakura stopped wondering why his brother had actually reacted this time when Ryou said hysterically, "I-I'm so confused Bakura!" he sounded on the verge of tears, "I don't understand these feelings at all!"

Bakura blinked, "… What feelings?"

Ryou opened his eyes, allowing Bakura to see the fear and confusion that had settled there. "I-I don't know! I…" he looked down, ashamed, "I… I almost… _want_ him to kiss me… and…"

"And?" Bakura pressed, not sure what his little brother was trying to tell him.

"And… I thought… i-is… is Otogi… lustful?"

Bakura blinked, not sure if he had heard Ryou right. "What?" he asked.

Ryou bit his lip, "I-is Otogi… l-lustful?"

Bakura stared at Ryou. "Uh, honestly? Yes, but what does that have to do with -"

Ryou gave a cry that sounded like he was in pain and squatted down on the floor, covering his head with his arms as if something was going to fall on his head.

"No!" he screamed, "Isn't that wrong though? Aren't you supposed to get to know someone before you think of them… that way?"

He sounded so confused and lost, it was starting to crack Bakura's toughened heart. He knelt down to Ryou's level, "Ryou," he said, trying to sound comforting, "lots of people like people for their looks and think they're… lustful… but it's only wrong if you… act on these thoughts. It's perfectly normal."

Ryou looked up at Bakura, "… But -"

"No buts!" Bakura said as he stood Ryou up, "Where's Otogi? I need to have a little talk with him."

Ryou's eyes widened, "Bakura no -!"

"I'm just going to talk to him."

"But -!"

"I'm just going to talk to him."

"Bakura –"

"I'm just going to hurt him."

"That's what I'm afraid of..."

Suddenly, Bakura stopped and turned to his brother. "You're afraid I'm going to hurt him? _Why?_"

Ryou looked down again, "He's already gotten punched…"

Bakura's eye twitched, "By _Ishtar!_ I want to punch him for hurting you!"

"But…"

"You've never had a problem with me punching your other bullies."

Ryou raised an eyebrow.

"… Okay, you minded, but still, Otogi's gone too far Ryou!" it was then that Bakura realized something, "Wait… Ryou, you said you think Otogi's –" he was about to say 'lustful' like Ryou had said, but the fear still present in his eyes made him stop, "… good-looking, so…"

Ryou twiddled with his fingers, "Um… I think I might be bi… but I'm not sure…" Ryou was surprised about how easy that was to admit…

"…Oh…" At that moment, Bakura felt a little happy. If Ryou liked both boys and girls, then that would give him a better chance and reason to like Ryou the way he does. "Is it because of… what Otogi did?"

Ryou shook his head, "I've been questioning for a little bit… but I don't think I'll find out. I don't want to be in a relationship anymore…"

Bakura didn't push the subject – knowing that Ryou was referring to his old girlfriend. The older twin pushed a hand through his hair, "So… I'm going to go back to our lockers."

"Bakura!"

"I won't hurt him!" Bakura said, putting his hands up in a defensive position, "You know me, I can put fear into people's hearts without even touching them – I'll do that."

Ryou pulled on his fingers – a sign that he wasn't sure what to do.

"I won't be long – stay here."

Ryou hesitated before he nodded slowly. Bakura took off before his indecisive little brother could change his mind.

* * *

As Bakura walked through the school, his anger kept building, and building, and building, until he was sure that as soon as he saw the raven-haired boy that he was going to push him against the lockers and slowly choke him to death. How _dare_ he trap Ryou like that! There's obviously something very wrong with this kid if he would do that to _his_ little brother. Of course he _did_ think that Ryou was a girl…

Bakura's eyes widened as he cussed and kicked the lockers closest to him. Of course! If Otogi knew that Ryou was a boy, he'd leave him alone! But… if he _did_ know that Ryou was a boy, then he'd tell everybody and then Ryou would probably never come to school again…

Which means he'll just have to make sure Otogi _won't_ tell.

He walked down the hall, a plan forming in his mind. Who said he had to tell Otogi right away? Why not have some fun first? … Oh yes… Oh _yes_, this is perfect! Bakura felt a low chuckle build in his stomach until he let it out. It started out quiet and then became very loud, and if anyone had been within earshot, they would have thought for sure that they were hearing the devil's laugh. He walked down the hall with new determination, trying to make his features less like himself and look more like Ryou. He flattened his hair to make it look more put-together, he straightened out his eyebrows so it didn't look like he was immediately pissed off at everything he saw, and he opened his eyes as wide as they would go to make them look more round. Soon, he came to the hallway with his and Ryou's lockers, and sure enough, he saw Otogi leaning on the lockers next to Ryou's locker, the door of which was wide open. Otogi turned his head to the side and smirked, "I knew you'd come back my sweet," Bakura felt like gagging, _his sweet?_ "Did you rethink my offer?"

It was at times like this that Bakura was glad that he could do impressions well: "Yes," he said, surprising himself by how much it sounded like Ryou, "I… I've… thought it over…" oh, he got the hesitation down _perfectly!_ This was all going so well.

Otogi smirked, completely convinced that this was in fact Ryou, "Good choice." He walked forward cupped 'Ryou's' chin with his hand. "So," he whispered as he leaned in, about to bite 'Ryou's' ear, "where should we go?"

"I-I don't know…"

"How about we go back to my place?" he said as he nibbled what he thought was Ryou's ear, "I'll teach you a _special_ dance."

"Hm…" Bakura said, trying to make it seem as if he liked the teeth in his ear even though he felt completely disgusted at the touch, "I-I don't know… Will it… hurt?"

"Of course not babe," Otogi said as he stopped biting the ear to look into 'Ryou's' eyes, "it won't hurt a bit."

At this point, Bakura had had enough of fooling Otogi and pushed the raven-haired boy back until he was trapped on the other side of the wall just like Ryou had been, only this time he _did_ trap the wrists so he couldn't move or push him away. "How about we talk about something more important," he said as he dropped his Ryou voice completely. He lifted both of Otogi's arms up and trapped both of his wrists with one of his hands so he could put a fist in his face, "If you _ever_ go near Ryou again, I'll make sure that you'll miss school for the _rest of your life_," Bakura scoffed, "you know, you're even dumber than I thought. Me and Ryou are wearing _completely different clothing_, and you didn't notice!"

Otogi scowled, wondering how he could have missed that – usually he was more observant. He ignored this and smirked, "So," he said, his voice sounding cocky, "you pretended to be your sister to be touched by me? Little Marik didn't satisfy you eh?"

Bakura punched Otogi in the stomach, making him gasp for air. Fuck his promise to Ryou about not hurting him – this guy was getting on his nerves! "First of all," Bakura said over Otogi's coughing, "I absolutely _hate_ Ishtar. Second, if you were so easily fooled and believed that I was Ryou, that obviously means that you don't care about gender as long as they look pretty, doesn't it?"

Otogi turned red with anger, "That's not it! It's not my fault you look so much like a girl!"

Bakura smirked, "You're right," he said, "It's not your fault. But, _because_ I look so much like Ryou, how can you be sure that you won't make the same mistake again?" he stopped a minute so he could watch the gears turn in Otogi's eyes, "what if you thought that I was Ryou, say… in the classroom? Where other people are?" he smirked as he saw his captive pale slightly, "You'll have a hard time convincing _them_ you thought I was my sister. And even if you convince some, you won't convince all, and who _knows_ what they'll tell others. You know how people like to over-exaggerate what they see – _don't you?_" he accented the last part by pushing his writs deeper into the lockers.

Otogi glared fiercely, "You don't scare me Bakura."

"Well," he said as he let Otogi go, "that right there is a mistake." They stared at each other with pure hatred for a second before Bakura said, "Stay away from Ryou, or the next time we meet alone won't be so nice." He started walking away, satisfied that this idiot was being silent for once, when Otogi had to ruin it by saying, "I hope you and your boyfriend work out your issues!"

Bakura froze and turned around slowly, pasting a sickly sweet smile on his face, "You know," he said, "you bring up Ishtar a lot – why is that, I wonder?"

He walked off laughing heartily, the picture of a red-faced Otogi fresh in his mind.

* * *

I was going to keep going, but this seemed like the _perfect_ place to stop. Oh Bakura, you're such a good older brother XD But Otogi's not done yet, oh no. Poor Ryou, he's so confused… he's not used to these types of feelings… Lol, I've been getting so much inspiration for this story, so that should explain the fast updates. Although... I will be busy for the next week or so, so don't expect an update soon ^^"

So! Review and tell me what you thought about this chapter! Were the reactions believable? What were your favorite parts? What were your _least_ favorite parts? What do you want to see happen later on? What do you want to see happen to Otogi? After all, he hurt Ryou and caused him to question his entire belief system, what do _you_ think should happen to him? If the ideas are good, I'll probably do them =) Tell me if you find any mistakes or if something just plain bothers you about the story - I'll try and fix it to make it better. In other words, REVIEW! As long as people keep reviewing – I'll keep updating. ~~~{REVIEW REPLIES!}~~~

**Vi**: Haha, glad you liked it! XD And yeah, Marik and Bakura hate each other, yet they could get along fine XD I enjoy writing them when they hate each other – it's fun. And what's my writing style? ^_^" I just write… I didn't even know I _had_ a style… I don't agree with homophobic people either, and I love how fast I'm updating this XD And you _are_ hyper, thanks for the review! =)

SAYONARA! HOPED YOU LIKED THE CHAPTER! =)


	5. Opening Up

**Hi everyone! Here's the next chapter! =) Sorry it took so long… homework's a jerk this term… Also! In shippings, this story is now: Angst+Psycho VS Thief+Death VS Tender+Bronze. I will admit, when I first started this story I had planned on doing Angst+Psycho because I wanted to try something other than Thiefshipping (I'm a total fanatic…) but now I **_**reeeaaally**_** want to do thiefshipping and it's totally conflicting with all the Psychoshipping plans I had in my head TT_TT And um… the Tender and Bronze is going to be one-sided only, sorry… ^_^" I noticed a lot of people like Tendershipping… SORRY! But I mean, come on! It would hardly work in this situation… **

**Warning! Angst, Otogi, someone gets beaten up… yeah… XD **

* * *

Chapter 5: Opening Up

Ryou and Bakura were walking to school again, much to Bakura's dismay. Actually, they were walking to Marik's house first because Ryou felt that it would be better to walk to school with other people even though Bakura would have rather just skipped his house and continued to their horrible school, but that was just his opinion. Ryou was looking down at the ground, not really thinking of anything, but not thinking of nothing either. Occasionally emerald eyes popped into his head, but he quickly got rid of those haunting eyes. Bakura was starting to get annoyed at his twin, even though he was still half asleep and the edges around his vision were just a _little _bit blurry. Ryou knew that he'd protect him right? He had always done that – the one nice thing he did without having to be asked or forced. Besides, it was fun to torment those who tormented Ryou. They were so puzzled how one twin could be so nice and loving and cute and how the other could be so mean and hateful and un-cute, but Bakura felt that it created a sort of balance if you will – one cannot exist without the other. He poked his other half, "Stop being so depressed," he said, "that's supposed to be me."

Ryou offered a smile, though Bakura knew it was forced, "I'm sorry." It really bothered Bakura when every other word out of his brother's mouth was, 'I'm sorry.' Ryou sighed, "I just don't know…"

Even though that was about as cryptic as speech could get, Bakura knew that Ryou was probably talking about Otogi. "Don't worry about him," Bakura smirked, "I don't think he'll bother you for a while."

Ryou glanced sideways at his brother, "What did you do?" he asked accusingly.

Bakura shrugged, "Nothing!" he insisted, "I just brought up a good point…"

Ryou groaned, "The fact that you won't tell me worries more than what you actually did. Even yesterday you just said you 'had a talk with him.' What kind of talk?"

"The talking kind."

Ryou rolled his eyes, but by then they had appeared at Marik's house. Ryou waved to Marik – who had been waiting at his garage just like yesterday. "Hey Marik-san!" Ryou greeted, "Were you waiting long?"

"No," Marik replied simply. He wondered if Ryou would ask that every day…

They began walking, and Marik was a little surprised that Bakura wasn't saying anything. Usually at this time they would be putting each other down, even though this was only the second time they had walked to school together it had seemed like they had already developed a pattern – after just one day it seemed like they would constantly fight and be 'frienemies.' Actually, Marik felt like he had known Bakura and Ryou for longer than a day – he felt like he's known them forever, but he just met them two days ago… and yet everyone at school thought that he and Bakura were together because of Otogi. Marik's fist itched to punch that homophobic moron in the face just one more time… or maybe a couple hundred more times… How were they going to convince people that they hated each other when a large majority of the school just followed Otogi blindly? And even their _friends_ said that they would be good together? It wasn't going to be possible was it?

"Ne, Ryou," Bakura's deep (and un-soprano) voice interrupted Marik's musings, "aren't you glad you don't have to make lunch anymore?"

Ryou smiled, "Thanks to you. How _did_ you know the lunch was spaghetti anyway?"

Bakura shrugged smugly, "I told you, lucky guess."

"What are you talking about?" Marik asked – he was completely lost with the conversation.

Bakura looked at him blandly, "Oh right, you weren't there. Your friends couldn't remember what the lunch was for yesterday, so I made a bet that whoever guessed the meal right would have their lunch made for them by all the others who placed a bet for a month."

Marik raised an eyebrow, "You cheated didn't you?"

Bakura smiled arrogantly, "Why, whatever gives you that completely correct idea Ishtar?"

"Because it's obvious."

Ryou looked at his brother with a tilt of his head, "You cheated? I should have known."

Bakura shrugged, "It's not my fault that no one notices the lunch menu hanging around the hallways."

"It's just like you to cheat," Marik commented.

Bakura raised an eyebrow at him, "I've only known you for two days."

"Yes, but I feel like I already know you."

Bakura froze completely – ceasing all movements. It took a few steps before Marik and Ryou realized their companion had stopped, and they turned around to look at him. Bakura turned to Marik slowly and stared vehemently at him. "You don't know me at all," he said, obviously trying to control his anger and failing. But what he was upset over Marik wasn't sure. "Don't think that you do," Bakura continued, "'Cause you don't." Marik was about to reply and try to find out what was wrong, but then Bakura walked ahead, leaving Ryou and Marik behind.

Ryou sighed and smiled apologetically at Marik, "Sorry about that. Bakura doesn't… Well… it's hard to explain really. He hates it when people say they 'know' him because…" Ryou tried to find the right words, but Marik seemed to understand and interrupted: "I get it. Or, I think I do." But that's just what he said. He didn't really understand what was wrong. Why had Bakura gotten so angry like that? Marik couldn't figure it out.

Ryou smiled, "That's good." They walked in silence for a while, before Ryou said, "Bakura just doesn't like his past. He never talks about it, and since he never talks about it… no one can 'know' him, and he hates it when people say otherwise."

Marik took this in and then nodded, "I guess that makes sense…"

* * *

Bakura ground his teeth. "_I feel like I already know you_, yeah right!" Bakura mocked, "No one knows me – no one at all. And I intend to keep it that way. _Forever_." He continued to walk angrily ahead, not even caring that he left Ryou and Marik together – the last two people who he wants to spend "quality time" or whatever you call it together. _No one knows me_, Bakura thought to himself, his very thoughts dripping with rage, _No one, not even Ryou knows me. Not fully anyways,_ his eyes narrow, _The only person who knew me – _really_ knew me, is dead. And he'll always be dead,_ Bakura felt tears start to well up at his eyes, but he blinked them away forcefully,_ No one can replace him… No one… And now he's dead. Dead as dead can be._

Bakura resisted the urge to stop walking and cry to the heavens of the sadness he pushed away for so long easily. He was used to it – not showing his emotions.

After all, he's had lots of practice with it.

* * *

Soon, the dysfunctional trio arrived at school where all their other friends were waiting. Although Bakura still didn't call them that, he mainly called them, "Ryou's Friends" because that is what they were to him. Nothing less, and _certainly_ nothing more.

Anyway, when they arrived, Ryou was very wary for he did not want to meet the dice enthusiast Otogi again. He knew that Bakura did _something_ to keep him away, but he couldn't help but feel a little scared. What if Otogi _did_ show up? He knew that Bakura would protect him, but to what extent…? Bakura has been known to be _extremely_ violent, especially when he's in a bad mood, and Marik's comment earlier had put him in a _very_ horrid mood, even if no one but him could tell.

Ryou felt sad as he thought about the earlier incident. He himself didn't understand why Bakura wouldn't let anyone get close to him, whenever the older twin was asked he just said, "I tried. It didn't work out," or something even more cryptic, and he always avoided eye-contact. Ryou sighed, _The only person he's close to is me. He needs more people in his life…_ and as he thought this his gaze turned to Marik. Ryou had to admit that out of everyone he's met so far at this school, Marik seemed like the best choice to get close to Bakura. They seemed to have the same basic personality, and what everyone said before was right – they _could_ get along, if they'd stop being so stubborn. That's another thing that they have in common though – stubbornness. Besides, Ryou figured, Marik was a nice fellow, nicer than any of Bakura's past "friends." Ha, that's a laugh, more like "cohorts" or "servants."

Ryou shook his head to rid himself of these thoughts. There was nothing he could do about it at school, and Bakura didn't like talking about his problems anyway. Ever. But that didn't mean he wouldn't try later. He sighed as he did a last look-around for Otogi before tuning in on the current conversation.

"I'm telling you Jounouchi!" Amora was saying heatedly, "ask her out already!"

Jounouchi growled at her, "I already told you that we're just friends! Drop it already!"

Amora cried in frustration, and Ryou couldn't help but giggle at the obvious effort she's putting into this "mission" of hers. Suddenly, Amora's face lit up. "Oh yeah?" she countered confidently, accenting it with a smirk, "Well then, you shouldn't mind the fact that Mai has already been asked out for Saturday _three times_ since yesterday!"

Jounouchi actually paled by one degree. "… What?"

"You heard me!"

All was silent for a while before Yugi interrupted. "She's right Jounouchi," the younger Mutou twin said, "I overheard when walking to lunch yesterday…"

Jounouchi blinked at Yugi. Before, he had doubted what Amora said because she would try _anything_ to get them together, but Yugi _never_ lied, so now he was really worried. "No way…" he said.

Amora smiled mischievously, and was about to torture Jounouchi more when Kana-chan interrupted with, "She should be in classroom 12-A. If you want to go and see her."

Jounouchi hesitated, so Honda said, "GO man! You're lady's in danger!"

Jounouchi glared at him, "Mai-san is not my lady!"

Amora's eyes twinkled, "You're on first name basis?" she said, obviously very happy, "That's great!"

Jounouchi blushed very slightly before heading off into the direction of classroom 12-A.

Everyone watched him go silently, trying not to laugh at the obvious crush. "You're evil, you know that?" Marik told Amora, trying not to smile.

"I can't believe you kept up the lie Yugi!" Atem told his younger twin proudly.

Yugi smiled weakly, "Well… I want to see them together too…"

"Yes!" Amora said, "Thanks Yugi-kun! He probably wouldn't have done _anything_ if you hadn't played along!" she sighed in relief, "Maybe now things can pick up with those two!" She smiled brightly before turning to Ryou. "So Ryou-chan," she said, digging her elbow playfully into 'her' side, "Have your eye on anyone yet? I could help you out you know!"

Marik found his focus increase by one hundred percent.

Ryou laughed, "Thanks but no thanks Amora-chan. I'm kind of done with dating for a while." When Ryou said that, Marik found his heart tighten a little for some odd reason.

Amora blinked, all playfulness gone from her actions, "Why? Did something happen?"

"Uh…" Ryou said awkwardly, aware that all eyes were probably on him now, "Um… the last time I was in a relationship… didn't end well," he said dejectedly, avoiding the others' eyes.

Bakura scowled. He knew exactly what Ryou was talking about – his ex-girlfriend. How dare that bimbo break his brother's heart! All she got was a broken leg and arm…

Marik on the other hand pitied the poor kid for he had no idea what had happened. He wished he could help him – _her_ in some way.

Everyone else just felt sorry for Ryou, simply because of the way 'she' sounded and looked, and Amora's eyes saddened slightly. "Oh…" she said, "Well, in that case…" she had no idea what to say, but luckily Atem saved her: "Do you think Jounouchi will actually work up the nerve to ask Kujaku out?" he asked generally.

Amora turned to him, "He better! Or else he'll face the wrath of Hanamia Amora!"

"The scariest wrath of all," Marik mumbled to which Ryou laughed, causing Marik to smile cheerfully and Bakura to scowl irritably.

"You have to admit though," Honda broke in, "this wouldn't be the first time where we thought he was _finally_ going to ask her out and chickened out at the last second."

Kana-chan sighed, "You're absolutely right, but we can still hope can't we?"

"No," Amora said in all seriousness, "This time hoping is _not_ enough. We need to make _sure_ that he asks her out _today_," she turned to Ryou, "Ryou-chan! Will you help me in my noble quest?"

Ryou giggled, "Sure! It sounds like fun!" Bakura raised his eyebrow at his brother's statement.

Amora smiled, grabbed Ryou's hand, and started pulling 'her' along. "Let's go!" She said excitedly while taking off down the hallway, making people jump out of the way as they see Amora high-tail it through the school at a million miles an hour _again_. When will the hyperactive girl stop with her random actions? _Probably_ _never_, everyone figured with a note of disappointment.

Soon, the two matchmakers were off and away, and the rest of the 'Friendship Gang' was left to talk about something else.

Atem smirked. "I'd watch out if I were you Marik-san," he said.

Marik raised an eyebrow, "Why?"

"Amora's been trying to find you someone since the day she met you."

Marik rolled his eyes, "Oh please."

"It's true," Kana-chan added, "She tried to get me to help." Marik's eyes widened. "I declined of course, I know you don't like people tangled in your love life."

Marik groaned and put his head in a hand, "Thanks Kana-chan."

She laughed, "No problem."

"You should watch out too Bakura-san," Anzu said, "If she's trying to find someone for your sister, she'll find someone for you too."

Bakura raised an eyebrow. "I'm confused," he said, "Isn't she supposed to be _good_ at matchmaking?" he looked around at everyone, "So why is this a bad thing?" Everyone stared at him – clearly shocked at something. "What?" he asked.

"… Well…" Yugi said, "It's just that… we all thought…" Yugi looked at Atem who shook his head slightly, as if Yugi had asked a question. He turned back to Bakura. "Er… I mean, the methods she uses to, um… uh…" he hesitated a bit, giving Bakura the impression that whatever he was about to say wasn't what he originally meant. Apparently, Atem didn't want him to know something… "The methods she uses to… actually _get_ you together are hardly… conventional…"

"What do you mean?"

"She once locked two people in a closet," Honda said monotonously.

Bakura's eyes widened, the fact that this wasn't what Yugi was originally going to say was forgotten. "Are you serious?"

"Afraid so," Honda assured.

"Is she insane?"

"She just think she's knows best when it comes to this kind of stuff," Kana-chan explained.

"That doesn't give you the right to lock people into a closet!"

"Like you haven't done worse than that," Marik input.

Bakura scowled at Marik, "How would _you_ know that? You don't know anything Ishtar, and you certainly don't know me."

Marik copied the scowl he was being given. "First of all," he said, "I know a lot more than you think I do, and with the way you act it's _expected_ that you've done worse."

"I agree with that," Atem commented, noticing that Bakura seemed to be upset with Marik for some reason and wanting to avoid a fight.

"He _did_ talk about skipping school once," Honda contributed.

"And I meant that too," Bakura said, crossing his arms. He was still annoyed at Marik, just a bit.

They continued to talk about nothing in particular for a while, waiting for Ryou and Amora to return, but when it got to ten minutes before class started, they decided they should wait in the classroom so that they wouldn't' be late. Bakura was starting to get worried – Ryou never missed class, and he would never cut it this close to the bell… did something happen…?

However, just as Bakura was going to go out and look for Ryou and the other two members of their (for him – unwanted) group, he heard laughter cascading through the halls, and soon the door was slid open forcefully, revealing a very angry looking Jounouchi. He stomped into the classroom positively fuming, slamming the sliding door behind him, and took his seat with a grudge, crossing his arms in the process. The scowl on his face told everyone – _back off_. And everyone was only too happy to comply, except for his friends of course. "What happened?" Yugi asked right before a hysterically laughing Amora and an amusedly giggling Ryou appeared at the door as well. They walked in, and Amora had to lean on a desk for support form laughing so hard. Ryou closed the door quietly behind him, not helping the small bubbles of laughter that escaped his throat now and then.

"What happened back there?" Yugi asked Jounouchi again. He just scowled, obviously not wanting to explain. Luckily (or unluckily, depending on how you look at it) Amora popped up and said, "Wh-what happened? Oh, I'll t-tell you what h-happened!" she said, still laughing boisterously, "He –"

"No one needs to know!" Jounouchi interrupted angrily, "It's nobody's damn business!"

Yugi put on a certain face that Bakura recognized seeing from Ryou whenever he wanted something. "Can't you tell me?" he asked quietly, as if afraid of rejection.

Jounouchi actually seemed to consider it for a moment, but it was gone like lightning. He shook his head vigorously, "No way man!"

"Aw come on!" Honda complained. Jounouchi refused again, and now the entire friendship gang was on him – asking him, "What happened?" or "It can't be that bad," or, "Tell me!" or, in Amora's case, "You're such a baby!" No one noticed when Bakura rolled his eyes and walked over to Ryou to find out what happened from him – no one except Marik, who realized that Ryou would probably explain faster and better than Jounouchi and decided to join Bakura.

"So what happened?" Bakura asked his brother.

"Yeah," Marik agreed, "what happened?" Bakura scowled when he realized Marik was there, but the Egyptian just glared back at him defiantly.

Ryou blinked at them and smiled a slightly cat-like, mischievous smile. "Oh…" he began, "I really shouldn't tell you… not if Jounouchi-san doesn't want you to know…"

"Come on Ryou," Bakura said impatiently, "you know you'll end up telling me one way or another."

Ryou's smile grew just a little, "Well, that _is_ a good point…" he glanced at Jounouchi who was still being harassed by his friends, "… Okay, I'll tell you," he smiled brightly before telling his tale:

…

_Jounouchi tore down the hallway – wanting to make sure he saw and talked to Mai __**today**__. There's no way she would actually go out with any of those guys right? Of course not – they were all probably losers. He ran all the way to classroom 12-A, not noticing the two classmates that followed him all the way there. _

_As soon as the targeted classroom was in his sight, he ran forward and slid the door open with a bang. He just stood there at first, realizing that this probably wasn't the best method to arrive in a senior classroom… "Um…" he finally said, deciding it looked even dumber to just stand there and not say anything, "I'm uh… looking for someone…" he looked around the classroom, trying to ignore the whispers that circled around, but after a while he couldn't find the blonde he was looking for. "Excuse me," he announced to the classroom just as the door opened to reveal the two followers, "does anyone know where Kujaku-san is?" _

_The twelfth-grade students exchanged glances with each other. "Mai-san isn't here yet," one girl finally answered._

"_Oh," Jounouchi said as his heart clenched, "when does she usually get here?" he asked her._

_The girl exchanged a glance with another girl, "Why do you want to know?"_

_Jounouchi shrugged, "Just 'cause."_

"_What business do you have with her?"_

"_I…" Jounouchi hesitated, sort of embarrassed now, "I want to talk with her…"_

"_About what?"_

_Jounouchi fidgeted a bit before deciding to answer, however, he didn't hear the door slide open yet again to reveal another student before he responded. "I want to… I want to ask Mai on a date."_

_All was silent in the classroom as they took this in. Amora couldn't believe that Jounouchi had actually said that, and Ryou kind of felt sorry for the kid at the moment. Jounouchi scratched the back of his head, "So um…" he interrupted the thick silence, "When does she get here?"_

"_Around this time," a new voice rang through the classroom from the classroom door. Jounouchi swiveled around on his heels and froze at the sight of the blonde, twelfth-grade-student in the doorframe. Jounouchi and Mai stared at each other for a while, before Jounouchi's face went red. "Mai-san," he said with a nervous smile, "Wh-when did you get here?"_

"… _Around two minutes ago…"came the calm reply. They stared at each other for a while more, before Amora burst out laughing. Jounouchi glared at her, his face in flames now, and all the twelfth-graders stared at her before laughter overcame them – first in small giggles, and then in boisterous roars; but Ryou just giggled, having some control. Mai looked at them all, and at first glared. "It's not funny!" she insisted, to which Jounouchi was glad. But, after a while, she had to admit that it was kind of funny… A smile began to creep up on her face and she let out one laugh as well. Jounouchi felt his heart drop and he looked down, obviously embarrassed, but also angry. He stormed out of the room in the next second, slamming the door open. "Wait Jounouchi!" Mai called after him, "I'm sorry, please come back –" but Jounouchi wouldn't listen. Amora and Ryou soon followed after him, laughing all the way. _

...

"… And that's what happened," Ryou concluded.

"…" his two-person audience was silent before they burst out laughing. "That's just like Jounouchi!" Marik said, wiping an imaginary tear. However, Jounouchi heard this and ran over there, "_What's_ just like me?" he demanded to know, glaring at Marik.

Marik laughed, but then said, "The fact that you forgot about our English paper that's due tomorrow," very convincingly. It didn't even seem like he had to think about it – it was as if that was exactly what they were talking about.

Jounouchi blinked, and then started panicking, "There's an English paper due tomorrow?" it was obvious that he _had_ forgotten about it. "Crap! Marik – can you help me out man?"

Marik shook his head, "No way, I finished mine a week ago – finish your own damn paper! _Man_."

"Aw come on," Jounouchi pleaded. Evidently, he had forgotten about being embarrassed. "Ryou! You'll help me right?"

Ryou shook his head, "I'm sorry Jounouchi, I have to start looking for a job today."

Marik looked at him oddly, "Why do you need a job?"

Ryou blinked at him – his mouth in the shape of an 'o,' and then he smiled. "I just want one," he said simply.

Marik was about to interrogate more when Amora popped up out of nowhere and told Jounouchi, "You know who's _great_ at English?"

"Who?" he asked excitedly, "Will they help me with my paper?"

Amora smiled wickedly, "Oh, I'd think so, considering it's Mai-san."

Everything went quiet, and Jounouchi looked like he was about to yell at Amora and rip her throat out when the teacher walked in – the bell ringing soon after. "Everyone in your seats!" she called out.

Jounouchi walked back to his seat grumpily, now he not only had Amora to deal with, he also had an English paper he had to do in one night. Why him?

Ryou felt kind of bad for Jounouchi. It must be bad to make a fool of yourself like that, and even _worse_ to have the person you like to laugh at you like that… but she _did _apologize… He hoped that everything would work out between those two. Maybe he'll talk to Mai-san about it at the Girl's meeting… Yeah, that's what he'd do.

Bakura on the other hand wasn't thinking about Jounouchi's problems at all, but was instead thinking of how impressive it was that Marik had thought up such a quick, believable cover-up topic. He probably would have told him that he was impressed if it wasn't for the fact that he was still pissed at the teen for his earlier comment of "I feel like I already know you." Bakura scowled at the memory and glared at the back of the Egyptian's head – hoping he felt uncomfortable.

Which he did, but he wasn't going to turn around and give Bakura the satisfaction. Why was he so mad at him for that one little comment anyway? It didn't make any sense. He probably just had issues. Yeah, that was probably it.

* * *

Soon, it was time for lunch, and barely anything had changed since the morning. Bakura was still mad at Marik and was currently giving him the silent treatment, to which Marik gladly yet angrily returned, Amora was still tormenting Jounouchi about his crush on Mai, and Jounouchi continued to deny it while begging people to help him with his paper, and Ryou was just trying to get Bakura back to his normal self – it was better than this at least!

"Bakura," Ryou whispered, "Can't you just forgive him? He didn't know –"

"But that's the point!" Bakura whispered back furiously, "He _doesn't_ know, and yet he says he does. The only thing he knows is idiocy." Ryou sighed. Obviously Bakura was not ready to act maturely yet. Why did he have to be so stubborn? Maybe Marik will be better… Ryou stood up and walked over to Marik since he was sitting as far away from Bakura as possible and started talking to him in a low voice. "Marik, maybe you should just apologize –"

"For what?" Marik said while angrily eating his food, "I didn't do anything wrong! He's just being a moody jerk!"

Ryou sighed again. This was going to be harder than he had thought… how's Amora doing with Jounouchi? He walked over to the two, who were at a different table because Jounouchi was asking anyone he could find to help him, and Amora was tagging along to continue telling him, over and over, "Mai can help you! Just ask her!" This is when Ryou showed up, and he was just in time to see Jounouchi scowl at Amora and yell, "I'M NOT GOING TO ASK MAI TO HELP ME WITH MY ENGLISH PAPER! GIVE IT UP ALREADY!"

Amora seemed genuinely surprised that Jounouchi had yelled at her, and she crossed her arms at him and asked, "Why not?" That's it. She just asked why not; she didn't add what she thought, she didn't say it condescendingly, she asked it like she really wanted to know the answer – which in reality, she did.

Jounouchi blinked at her – obviously surprised that she asked the question. "Why not?" he repeated.

Amora nodded. "Yes, why won't you ask Mai to help you? She's smart, and she's already taken the class. She'd be perfect. So why not?" Ryou looked at Amora and then back at Jounouchi. That was a good point – she _had_ already taken the class, why didn't Jounouchi ask her?

Jounouchi looked at them both, debating what he should say. "Well…" he finally said, putting a hand behind his head, "It's just…" he looked down as if ashamed, "I don't want her to think I'm an idiot…"

It was quiet, even the strangers at the table that Jounouchi had gone to ask for help had stopped eating to listen. Amora looked at Jounouchi seriously, and then she laid a hand on his shoulder. "Jounouchi-kun," she said seriously, as if about to say something important, "… you _are_ an idiot."

"…"

Everyone stared at her and Jounouchi apprehensively, while Ryou felt like face-palming himself. Why did Amora have to say _that?_

"… WHAT?" Jounouchi finally roared at her, "Say that again you little brat!"

She smiled, "Jounouchi, Mai already knows you're an idiot – and yet she likes you anyway! Just ask her for help, she'd be glad to."

Jounouchi looked at her angrily for a bit before smiling a bit. "… Does she really like me?" he asked quietly.

Amora smiled, "Of course! Whenever we talk about you in the Girl's Club she always acts likes she's uninterested, but I can tell she's listening to our every word." Jounouchi smiled smugly. "And whenever we start to say how stupid you are and how you always act like an idiot –"

"Hey!" Jounouchi interrupted angrily.

"– she sticks up for you!"

"… Okay, I'll ignore the first part of what you just said because I'm a nice guy –"

"Oh yeah! And she thinks you're really nice and cute. Of course _how_ she thinks that I have no idea…"

Jounouchi smiled. "Hm…" he said, thinking, "Maybe I will ask her to help with my paper…"

Amora smiled, "Yay! A study-date!"

Jounouchi blushed, "It's not a date! She's just helping me with my homework."

"True, but _where_ is she going to help you?"

"Probably at my house."

Amora smiled mischievously, "_Aloooooone?_" she drawled out suggestively.

Jounouchi's eye started to twitch, "Shut up Amora-san!"

She started laughing, "How 'bout this," she said, going into her bargaining voice, "You ask her to help you with your paper, and I'll leave you alone for an _entire week_."

Both Ryou and Jounouchi's eyes widened. "Seriously?" they echoed each other, "An entire week?"

She nodded. "Yup! But you have to ask her _right now_. She eats lunch outside by the cherry blossoms," Amora said as she pointed out the window to the beautiful, delicate pink flowers. "GO!" she said as if she was announcing a race. And the illusion was kept off as Jounouchi raced off to go outside as fast as a bullet. Amora sighed happily, "_Finally!_" she turned to Ryou with a smile, "C'mon, we should go eat our lunch now," she said as she grabbed Ryou's hand and started dragging 'her' off to their table.

As soon as Amora saw Marik and Bakura both brooding however, she crossed her arms and asked, "What's wrong over here?"

"It's been silent ever since the beginning of lunch," Anzu said.

"Why?" she inquired.

Yugi sighed, "They refuse to talk to each other for some reason."

"I think Bakura's mad at Marik," Atem clarified, looking at Bakura.

Bakura glared at him, "I'm _right here _you know. Don't talk like I'm not."

"You _also_ can't say that you 'know him' apparently," Marik added sarcastically.

Bakura growled at him, "Shut your mouth Ishtar! You don't know _what_ or _who_ you're messing with."

Amora pouted, "Lovers' quarrel?" she asked nonchalantly before Marik could retort back to Bakura.

They both snapped at her, "NO!" they yelled.

"And yet you still talk in unison…" she noticed as she sat down. She turned to Ryou, "Do you know what's going on?" she asked.

Ryou nodded. "They're both being stubborn little kids," he said.

"I am not!" Marik and Bakura said in unison before glaring at each other and sitting back down.

Ryou sighed. "Marik said something that Bakura didn't like so he's ignoring him."

Amor nodded slowly. "So it _is_ lovers' quarrel…"

"No it's not!" they said in unison again.

Ryou sighed, right before he felt a hand on his shoulder. "What's wrong babe?" said an all-too-familiar voice. Ryou paled at the sound. "Something troubling you? Are the gays freaking you out?" he asked.

Bakura snarled at the man. "Go away Otogi – I'm not in the mood to deal with you right now."

"I wasn't talking to _you,_ moody faggot."

Bakura stood up faster than it takes for a hummingbird to put their wings up and down, "Say that again bastard, I don't think I heard you correctly," he said, his hand clenching and unclenching. Ryou's eyes widened. When Bakura's fist clenched and unclenched, it usually meant he was about to hurt someone – badly. Oh no…

"You heard me, _moody faggot_," Otogi sneered.

In one second flat Bakura dove for Otogi's throat. Otogi landed on his back with Bakura on top of him – strangling him to death. "Why don't you try saying that _now_, you _**closet faggot!**_"Bakura spat the words at him. Bakura was beyond furious at this point. First Marik talked shit about knowing him, then Amora makes more cracks about how he and Marik are a couple, and now he had to deal with this idiotic homophobe? It was too much, Bakura began to see a red tint hazing the edges of his vision, but all he could think of was how great it would be if Otogi could be silenced – _forever_.

Ryou just stared on in horror. "Bakura!" he yelled, tugging at his arms, "Get off of him! You're going to kill him!" Ryou began to feel tears prickle his eyes. He had thought Bakura had conquered his anger problems – but this was just turning out to be a horrid day wasn't it?

Bakura stopped strangling him only to punch him in the face – dislocating his jaw. "I'm not moody – I'm angry. There is a _big_ difference," he stood up and looked around, for by now everyone was staring at him. He scowled at all of them, "What?" he yelled at them all, "You think I'm insane? You think I'm scary? You think I'm _moody? _Fuck you all!" he grabbed Ryou by the arm and started dragging him away. "I need to talk with you Ryou," was all he said.

Ryou stared at his brother in horror as he was led through the silent cafeteria. Bakura had always had anger management problems, and violence control problems, but he usually didn't get so mad. Usually he was able to calm himself down before he completely lost it like that. Ryou looked pitifully at Bakura, he just needed to vent a little and he'd be fine. It was just a shame that it had to happen this way… After all, Bakura had only gotten that mad one other time… One, other, _horrible_ time…

Bakura stopped dragging Ryou when they got to a quiet, deserted hallway. He was looking down so that his hair concealed his face. "Ryou…" he said, his voice concealing all emotion, so Ryou had no idea what he was feeling right now. "Ryou…" he repeated again, "… You're scared of me now aren't you?"

Ryou's eyes widened. He actually hadn't thought that, not at all. Why should he be scared? He knew he wouldn't hurt him. He never did, not on purpose and not if he could avoid it. Even when he had gotten super mad that one time… he had never hurt him. "No," Ryou answered honestly, "I know you won't hurt me, but… I do wish you wouldn't have done that."

Bakura looked at his twin with a look of… remorse? Sadness? It was hard to tell with Bakura. "You just don't get it Ryou," Bakura said, "no one does, the only one who did…" he looked down, and Ryou thought for a second that Bakura was crying, but this thought was quickly dispatched as he looked up again with anger written all over. "Otogi's just a jerk – he deserved what I did, probably more… and that annoying little twerp Amora making those stupid jokes… and Marik, saying he knows me… he doesn't know anything about me!" he punched a locker, making a loud banging noise. "He doesn't know a damn thing! And yet he acts like he's my best freaking friend or something, like he knows exactly what I'm thinking or how I feel, screw him!" he pounded the locker again, this time causing a small dent to appear. Ryou cringed – that probably hurt Bakura's hand a _lot_, not to mention now that person's locker has a dent in it…

"Bakura…" Ryou said, "Did it ever occur to you that maybe Marik _wants_ to be friends with you?"

"No," Bakura answered without missing a beat.

Ryou sighed, "Well, think about it now," Ryou stared at his brother and placed a calm hand on his shoulder. "Open up more Bakura, you have to handle the fact that some people want to be close to you… that some people will want to be your friend," he said the next part in a low voice, "will you let them?"

Bakura continued to look down, being completely still, acting as if he hadn't heard the question. Ryou sighed to himself and was about to go back to the lunchroom when Bakura spoke up. "It's hard Ryou," he said, barely above a whisper, "It's hard to let anyone get close… ever since…"

Ryou's eyes turned sad and he felt his heart squeeze. "I know…"

"… The only one who knew me – who _really_ knew me… was dad…" Bakura said, "and now he's… he's…"

Ryou felt tears prickling his eyes. He felt his heart slowly grow empty as he thought about what Bakura was referring to. "I know Bakura, I know…" he repeated. He hated this subject – it made him sad every time.

"… What if that happens again?" Bakura asked quietly, "or what if they can't handle the _real_ me like dad did? I can't take that chance Ryou – I can't… do you understand why now?"

Ryou looked at the floor, still sad from the previous memories. "_I_ understand," Ryou said, "but Marik doesn't… he doesn't even understand why you're mad Bakura… Can't you just forgive him?"

Bakura took a deep, slow, shaky breath. The shakiness in it surprised Ryou – was Bakura almost crying too? He had never seen the older boy cry before. "I don't think I can yet Ryou…"

Ryou nodded understandingly, and then patted Bakura on the back. "Come on," Ryou said, "it does no good to talk about all this depressing stuff… Let's talk about something else."

* * *

"What?" Marik asked all of his friends at the lunch table.

Anzu exchanged a glance with Kana-chan. "I think you should apologize to Bakura," Anzu said.

"_What?_" Marik asked, outraged, "Why should I? I didn't do anything! It's not my fault he's moody."

"It's just that…" Anzu began, but stopped.

"I don't think he would have gotten so mad if you would have apologized earlier," Kana-chan finished.

Marik crossed his arms stubbornly. "Oh please, he was going to do that to Otogi anyway," Marik argued.

Atem shook his head. "No, I don't think so," Atem shared. "Remember yesterday morning? Otogi had been much more aggressive and loud then, and Bakura had acted rationally. But today, Otogi had barely said anything and Bakura had acted irrationally. Whatever you did or said really got to him, messing up his judgment." Everyone turned and stared at Atem. He looked at them all. "What?" he asked, genuinely surprised.

"… How did you get all that?"

Atem shrugged, "It's just elementary."

"… Atem's right though Marik," Yugi continued, "I don't think Bakura would have done that either if he was in his right mind…"

"Oh, so what?" Marik said angrily, "It's _my_ fault he lost control?"

"Yes," everyone responded in unison.

Marik stared at them all in disbelief, and then his face turned red with anger. "Fine! I'll go apologize to the upset princess, will that make everyone happy?"

"Yes," everyone repeated once more.

Marik's eye twitched as he walked off in the direction that the Bakura twins had left. The rest of the "Friendship Gang" watched him walk off, and then Atem asked, "So what do we do with Otogi? He's still unconscious."

"I say we break the creep's legs," Amora offered.

* * *

Marik walked through the hallway angrily. Why the hell was it his fault that Bakura had gotten so mad? It's not like he knew that one, innocent little comment would cause him to act this way. Why was it such a big deal anyway? Doesn't he want people to know him? It seems like the only person he's close to is Ryou, doesn't he want more friends than that? Why was he so mad by Marik saying he "knew" him? It wasn't like he had actually said that anyways, he had said he _felt _like he already knew him. There was a big difference between _felt_ and what the actual truth was, shouldn't Bakura realize that?

Although, it wasn't entirely Bakura's fault… I mean, it was obvious before that his comment had bothered him a lot, he should have apologized anyway, even if he didn't know exactly what he had done wrong. So he was at fault here too a little… But what was the point of apologizing now? Would Bakura even accept his apology? He seemed really pissed now… maybe he should apologize tomorrow? Marik sighed. "What should I do…?" he mumbled to himself right before he heard voices flowing through the hallway. Marik followed the trail, and soon he could understand what the voices were saying.

"I still say Otogi deserved that," Bakura's voice rang through the hallway – sounding back to normal.

"You could have went just a _little_ easier on him," Ryou's rational voice argued.

"I wouldn't even have to _worry_ about him if he knew you were a boy," Bakura's voice said, obviously annoyed. Marik froze at that comment however. _Did he just say boy?_ He thought.

"We can't!" Ryou's voice panicked, "he'll tell everyone else and I'll get kicked out of school for sure!"

Bakura groaned, "But come on! If he knew you were a boy he'd never bother you again! Don't you want that?"

_Wh-why does he keep saying Ryou's a boy?_ Marik thought frantically, _She's a girl… isn't she…?_

"Well…" Ryou's voice rang through, sounding as if _**she**_ was about to give in, "that _would_ be nice," _**she**_ admitted, "but he'd definitely tell everyone else…"

"Not if I threaten him he won't."

"I think you've done enough…"

"Come one," Bakura pleaded, "he'd leave you alone for good! It's perfect! And I'll make sure he won't tell anyone – he's probably already scared of me for what I did to him today, there's no way he'd disobey me!"

"I just don't think it's a good idea Bakura! I can handle this myself –"

"Pfft!" Bakura scoffed.

"I can!" Ryou insisted, "Give me a chance!"

"Yeah, you sure handled it yesterday. Getting cornered by lockers."

"He surprised me okay? That won't happen again."

"There won't even be a _chance_ for it to happen again if he knew you were a boy."

Marik covered his ears. This wasn't adding up, Ryou was a girl! But Bakura's making it sound as if _**she's**_ actually a boy, but that would mean that… Ryou's a cross-dresser? No, no, that can't be it… but then why…?

"I'm sorry Bakura, but no."

Bakura groaned, and Marik figured this was as good a time as any to interrupt. "Um…" he said, walking into sight, "Hi… Can I talk to you for a second Bakura?" he asked awkwardly.

Bakura scowled at him, but after a quick look at Ryou he rolled his eyes and said, "_Fine_, Ryou, go eat your lunch."

Ryou smiled, "Thank you Bakura," he said before hugging his brother and scurrying off."

Marik watched him leave, and turned around just in time to see Bakura smiling after his little brother. His smile was very pretty… But it was gone when Bakura noticed him staring and scowled at him again. He folded his arms. "What do you want?" he asked.

Marik took a deep breath. "I just… wanted to apologize."

Bakura's eyes widened. "… Really?" he said incredulously.

Marik nodded. "Really truly," he confirmed, "I should have apologized as soon as I saw how upset you were… I _don't_ know you, and I shouldn't have said anything –"

"No," Bakura said with a sigh. He ran a hand through his hair, defeated, "I shouldn't have gotten so mad… it's not your fault that…"

Marik waited for Bakura to finish his sentence, but when he never did he asked, "What's not my fault?"

Bakura sighed. "You know," he said in a voice that clearly said he wouldn't answer Marik's question directly, "believe it or not, I used to be super close with someone… I told him everything, my thoughts, my feelings, he was the only one that _really_ _**truly**_ knew me, and I just get really mad when people say they know me because they don't… not like he did…" Bakura was staring into space, talking more to himself than to Marik. "That person was my dad, he was a great man… understanding, patient, knew exactly what to say, knew exactly what I was thinking or feeling…" he cut off here, in a world of memories.

"… What happened to him?" Marik felt compelled to ask.

Bakura turned to Marik. "He died."

Marik stared at him. "Oh… I'm, I'm sorry…"

"Don't be – it's not your fault," he sighed again, "Nothing's your fault… except for annoying me…"

Marik laughed a bit. "… If it makes you feel better, my mom's dead…"

Bakura smirked. "Nope, that doesn't make me feel better because my mom's dead too."

Marik stared at him. "Wh… what? So, it's just you and Ryou?"

"Technically, we're supposed to be living with our aunt and uncle, but they hate kids so they just let us live alone in our parent's house."

"… Are you serious? You're not just playing a prank on me?"

Bakura shook his head. "Afraid not – me and Ryou are practically orphans."

Marik looked away as he tried to take this in.

"But um, don't talk to Ryou about it – she's really sensitive when it comes to that…"

_He just called Ryou a she…_ Marik couldn't help but notice. Should he ask about it? No, he couldn't risk making Bakura mad at him again, this time for eavesdropping. "So…" Marik said awkwardly, "Want to go back to lunch? You might be just in time to see Otogi wake up and cower in fear of you."

Bakura's smiled, "He's unconscious? Are you serious? Wow, for a loudmouth he sure can't take a punch, can he?"

Marik laughed, "Tell me about it! He's such a weakling, and he thinks _we're_ weak, you sure proved him wrong!"

Bakura snickered and started walking back to the lunchroom. He felt strangely… happy… that was probably the most he had ever opened up to anyone – _ever_. Besides his dad of course. It felt kind of good now that someone knew something about him, even if it wasn't very much or very descriptive… It still felt good somehow…

Maybe… maybe he could open up to Marik more?

Well… that's a thought for another time.

Bakura smiled at Marik as he walked through the halls, and said. "Thanks…"

Marik looked at him quizzically. "For what?"

"For… apologizing when you obviously didn't want to."

Marik laughed. "You got that right." They walked in silence before Marik said, "Thank you too."

Now it was Bakura's turn to look at him questioningly, "For what?"

Marik smiled. "For telling me all that. It must have been hard for you…" he paused before adding, "You and your dad were really close huh?"

Bakura sighed. "Closer than you'll ever know…" Bakura had just enough time to say before pushing open the lunch room doors. He scanned the cafeteria for black hair and dice-earrings… found them! He walked over to Otogi and stood over him. Wow, he really _was_ unconscious. "Ryou!" he called out, "Get me a glass of water!"

Ryou handed him some water, "Thirsty?" he asked curiously.

"Nope," Bakura said before pouring the cold drink all over his least favorite person in the world. The now-wet boy's eyes snapped open and he sat up. "What the…?"

"Wow Otogi," Bakura said with a smirk, "I didn't know you had wet dreams."

Otogi blinked at him before turning red with anger. He stood up and yelled at him, "You poured water over me!"

"Very good observation Otogi!" he said as if talking to a five-year-old, "You deserve a gold star!"

"He deserves more than that Bakura," Marik joined in, "the wittle observation-ist deserves a piece of candy!"

Bakura smirked. "Would you like that Otogi?" he said as if talking to a dog now, "Would wittle Otogi-kun wike some candy?"

Otogi looked like he was about to start yelling, but just then an idea came to him and he crossed his arms, smiling smugly. "If the candy is your sister – then yes."

Bakura glared at him, his eye twitching and his hands clenching and unclenching again. Ryou noticed this and was getting ready to intervene, when he saw Bakura's hands unclench and go flat at his sides. "You know Otogi," Bakura said, "I could strangle you again, and this time I won't stop until the job's done."

Otogi stared at him a little scared now. He had actually sounded serious when he said that. "You're bluffing," he decided to say.

Bakura raised a brow. "Am I?"

Otogi stared at him before scowling. "Fine," he said as if he had won the battle, "But this isn't over."

"Of course it isn't," Bakura said, depressed.

Otogi walked off and Bakura walked over to his lunch table. "_Man_ I hate that guy…" Bakura said as he sat down.

Yugi smiled at him, "It's good to see you back to normal Bakura-san."

Bakura snickered.

"No really," Anzu added, "we were worried about you."

Bakura raised a brow. "Really?" he said disbelievingly.

"Really."

Bakura made a scoffing noise.

"Seriously Bakura," Atem joined in, "we know enough about you to know when you're not yourself." Both Ryou and Marik's eyes widened at this statement, and they turned as one to look at Bakura – afraid of how he'd handle Atem's statement.

Bakura was looking down, his hair covering his eyes. His fists were clenching and unclenching again, which worried Ryou a lot. It even worried Marik some because he realized Bakura had done that before he beat Otogi up and while he had been talking to Otogi a few seconds earlier. It was tense between the three who knew what was going on, but it quickly evaporated as Bakura looked up with a smirk on his face. "It's only been two days…" he said simply.

"That's enough time to get to know someone," Kana-chan said.

"Yeah," Honda said, "I pretty much knew all about Yugi as soon as I met him."

Yugi pouted a little. "What's that supposed to mean?"  
"That you're an open book," Atem teased.

Yugi stuck his tongue out at him.

"Miho-chan feels like she's known you forever," Miho interrupted. Ryou and Marik looked horrified at Miho, convinced that Bakura would surely lose it again at _that_ statement.

Bakura turned to her slowly, his eye twitching slightly. "I-is that so…"

Ryou looked at Bakura. He was really impressed with his brother, whatever he and Marik had talked about had clearly helped him out a lot.

"Um, guys?" Amora said, "Not that I'm not glad that Bakura and Marik aren't mad at each other anymore, but where' s Jounouchi?"

"He's probably eating with Mai outside," Anzu said.

Amora's eyes glinted. "_Really_ now?"

"Don't go meddling Amora-chan!" Kana-chan said, "Jounouchi's obviously doing fine right now, don't ruin it!"

Amora help up her hands defensively, "All right, all right! I won't go check up on them…" she said, causing everyone to relax slightly. "… But I mean _come on!_" she continued to say, "Aren't you curious to see what they're doing right now?" Amora asked.

"No," everyone answered as one.

Amora pouted, "You guys are no fun…"

* * *

Soon, it was after school, and the girls were all in the girl's locker room having their Girls Club meeting. Bakura was waiting out in the hallway for the meeting to end, and he couldn't help but snicker as these English-spoken words drifted loudly through the hallways and to his ears: "MAI AND JOUNOUCHI, SITTING IN A TREE, K-I-S-S-I-N-G!"

"A _cherry blossom_ tree to be most accurate!"

"SHUT UP YOU GUYS!"

Mai's statement was immediately followed by loud, girly laughter to which Bakura added to with his snickering.

"Lighten up Mai-san," one girl said in the locker room, "we're just teasing."

"Or _were_ you kissing at lunch today?" Amora accused.

Mai turned scarlet, "Of course not! I was actually helping him with an English paper during lunch today."

"And lip-locking while doing it."

"Amora!"

"Guys!" Anzu said, "We're getting off topic – we're _supposed_ to be discussing the sexism in this school – not torturing Mai about her boyfriend."

"Katsuya is not my boyfriend!" Mai clarified.

Amora smiled, "Then why are you calling him by his first name? _Huuuuuh?_"

Mai burned, "I…"

"Amora! Stop torturing Mai!" Anzu said again.

"I'm sorry Anzu," Amora apologized, "but it's just so much fun!"

"Who else was cheering when Otogi got beaten up today?" Kana-chan input randomly. Every girl and Ryou raised their hand. "Oh my gosh Ryou-chan!" one girl said, "You're brother was _sooo_ cool taking on Otogi like that! He looked so hot… Ah!" she said, realizing something, "You probably don't want to hear that about your brother…"

Ryou laughed. "It's fine – I agree."

Everyone stared at her. "… You agree that you're brother's hot?"

Ryou shrugged. "Why not?"

"… It's just…" the girl said, "It's just… odd…"

"Why? He's my brother – I love him, so of course I'd think he's hot. You tell your siblings they're cute or hot or handsome don't you?"

"Well…" the girls looked at each other, "I guess that makes sense…"

"Since you don't mind talking about it," one girl said with a grin, "then you wouldn't mind me saying that he's totally sexy – especially when he made Otogi unconscious! Aaaah," she said, obviously in a lust-mode or something, "Is there anything hotter than a bad boy?"

"Yes," Amora said, "A guy who's _nice_ and treats you _right_ is _way_ sexier than a bad boy."

"But bad boys are just so _cool_," the girl argued with Amora, "and there's always that thrilling sense of danger with him. Ugh, if only he wasn't gay…"

"Ugh!" another girl whined, "You know who _I_ wish wasn't gay?"

"Yes!" Everyone except Ryou answered.

The girl pouted. "You guys are mean…" she said jokingly.

"Um," Ryou said, "I don't know…"

The girl smiled. "I wish Marik wasn't gay – he'd be the perfect boyfriend!"

"… Oh…" So everyone in the Girls Club thought he was gay as well…

Amora laughed. "You're wish is wasted on Ryou Zalika-chan," she said, "she _obviously_ wants to get Marik and Bakura together!"

Ryou smiled sheepishly. "Oh, I don't know if they'd ever be like that, but I would like them to be friends… Bakura needs a good friend other than me to talk to about stuff…"

"Hm…" one girl commented, "I see your point… Bakura seems like a hard rock – nothing gets in, nothing gets out."

Ryou laughed, "That sounds _exactly_ like him."

"Oh yeah!" one high-pitched girl agreed, "Marik would be a _perfect_ friend for your brother! Did you see them work together to gang up on Otogi yesterday? That was so cool!"

"Again with both of them looking hot…"

"Why do all the good guys turn out to be gay?" one girl complained.

"It's the circle of life," one strawberry-blonde-haired girl commented.

"I just hate that everyone automatically thinks that cooking is for girls and gays," Kana-chan said, "cooking is for everyone! It shouldn't be associated with certain groups!"

"Finally!" Anzu exclaimed, "Back on track! It's totally sexist to think that girls should do all the cooking just because they're girls."

"Not to mention that belief that, "All girls should wear dresses and skirts and act dumb,"" Amora said, disgusted, "I actually want to be smart thank you very much!"

"I know right! I hate how guys just assume we'll fall for whatever lame pick-up lines or stupid moves they have – girls are not that easy!"

"Exactly! But Otogi's definitely the worst sexist _ever_."

"AMEN!" everyone agreed – including Ryou.

* * *

Bakura couldn't hear everything that the girls talked about he could hear their laughter and the loud "AMEN!" that resonated through the halls. And through these little snippets of conversation, he had to wonder – what the _hell_ did they talk about in there? Of course every boy in the school had wondered that at one point or another – none figured it out. At least not without Amora finding out and receiving a mild concussion…

Bakura sighed. It was pretty boring waiting here for Ryou… but he wanted to make sure he was safe. Especially from creepy, homophobic, dice-addicted, sexist pigs named Otogi… but he should really stop thinking about him lest he lose his temper again. Instead, he let his mind wander, and his brain led him to his memories…

…

"_Oy!" a young Bakura called through the house, "Otou-san! Where are you!"_

"_Right here!" his papa's voice rang through the house. Bakura ran towards the sound, and he soon found his father reading a book in the living room – relaxing on a recliner. "What is it son?" he asked, his short, straight blonde hair practically glowing in the sunlight shining through the window. _

"_Otou-san…" Bakura said awkwardly, "There's… something I have to tell you."_

_The father put his book away. "Sounds serious, tell me about it," he said as he patted his lap, signaling Bakura to sit down there. _

_Bakura walked over and sat in his father's lap. "Otou-san…" Bakura said, getting more serious, "You know how you told me that I'll start liking girls at my age?"_

_The father smiled mischievously. "Does my little 'Kura-kun have a crush on someone?" he tickled him in the ribs, causing Bakura to laugh. "So, who's the lucky girl? What's her name?"_

_Bakura bit his lip. "Um… it's not a girl…"_

_The father was silent for a little bit before smiling. "Then who is it?"he asked gently, encouragingly. _

_Bakura looked down, almost as if he was ashamed. "It's… it's Ryou…"_

…

Bakura was snapped out of his memory as he heard someone calling his name in regular time. "Bakura!" he heard Marik's voice call out at the end of the hall. Bakura, still a little dazed form being snapped out of his memory so quickly, waved at the teen whom he had been so angry with a few hours ago.

Marik quickly jogged up to him. "Thought I'd find you here," he said, sitting down next to him. "So," he said, "does this mean we're friends now?" he smiled at the end.

Bakura hesitated. "Look," he finally said, "Just because I told you a little about me does not mean we're all _buddy-buddy_ now, I still hate your guts."

"As do I," Marik agreed before smirking, "But I feel like I can tolerate you just a little bit more now…"

Bakura snickered.

"You handled the rest o lunch pretty well though… I thought you didn't like people saying they knew you?"

Bakura scowled. "I don't, it was extremely hard for me not to rip out their throats…"

Marik rolled his eyes. "Whatever." They sat in comfortable silence for a little bit, before the girls laughter rang through the halls again. "You know…" Marik said after most of the laughter had gone, "If you ever need anyone to talk to… besides Ryou of course, you can talk to me… If you want," Marik added the last part quickly.

Bakura looked at him with a tilt of his head. "What makes you think I'll take you up on that?"

Marik shrugged. "Nothing, I just wanted to put it out there." Marik stood up and turned to look at him with a smile. "But you know…" he smiled mischievously, "I still like your sister… Would you mind if I asked her out?"

Bakura growled. "Over my dead body Ishtar!"

Marik laughed, and for some reason, Bakura was reminded of the tinkling of bells. "If that's what it takes – I'll gladly do that." He turned his back to Bakura and started walking away.

"You know Ryou's really a boy right?" Bakura called.

Marik stopped in his tracks. So it _was_ true, no wonder he kept calling Ryou a 'him' in his head… Without turning around, he responded, "… Yeah, I had my suspicions."

"It doesn't change your mind at all does it?"

Marik smiled, though Bakura couldn't see it. "Nope," he said before continuing his walk down the hallway and to his house eventually.

* * *

**Lols, I had this whole dramatic plan, and then I just completely trashed it XD There was going to be a part at the end where Bakura just went out – completely mad and fed up with the world – and started punching trees until his hands turned bloody… but I decided to go this way instead… though now this kind of messes up future conversations I had planned, but that's okay. I tend to not follow what I think of anyway so…**

**You'll find out what happened in the rest of Bakura's memory later, MUCH later… XD I'm so evil. **

**And yes, Ryou and Bakura live alone.**

~~~{REVIEW REPLIES!}~~~

**MadMadGurl**: Thanks! I'm glad you like the story! =) Sorry this chapter took so long… ^_^" Thanks for reviewing though! =)

**Kayla**: I'm sorry Kayla – the Tendershipping won't happen ^_^" I hope you'll keep reading anyway… and I bet you feel even _more_ sorry for Otogi now don't you XD Sorry, but every story needs a bad guy… Thanks for reviewing! =)

**Please send me a review and tell me what you thought of this chapter! =) Please? It could be my birthday present! (My birthday was on the fifteenth XD)**


	6. First Kiss

**GOODNESS, this chapter… it makes me feel so… so… positively EVIL right now! By the way, sorry this chapter took so long – homework, stress, and writers block are NOT a good combination…**

Chapter 6: First Kiss

Marik was sitting at his kitchen table eating cereal – he never really liked big breakfasts, they made him feel too full. Actually, he never really even felt hungry in the morning, he _would_ just skip the meal altogether if it wasn't for the fact that he would feel starving by lunchtime if he skipped the supposed "most important meal of the day." Stupid indecisive stomach…

The other sounds of the morning were drowned out by his loud crunching – such as the shower running for his sister, dresser drawers and closet doors opening and closing for his older brother, birds chirping outside, the distant sounds of his neighbors starting their days as well.

It didn't really take long for Marik to get ready in the morning because he took his showers at night, so all he had to do when he got up was get dressed, apply his kohl, put on his accessories, eat, grab his backpack and head out the door. Usually, he and his siblings ate together, but Marik had had trouble going to sleep last night and had woken up early and he didn't feel like waiting in bed, so he got ready and went downstairs to eat. Why did he have trouble going to sleep? Well, he was thinking too much. About what? Well, that can all be summed up in one word:

Ryou.

_So… Ryou's really a boy…_ Marik thought as he slurped up some milk from his spoon, _Somehow I'm not really surprised…_ And why was that? Shouldn't he be more surprised? I mean, Ryou has everyone else fooled that he's a girl, shouldn't this be more of a shock? Of course, Marik had always called Ryou a boy in his head even before he knew the secret, maybe that dimmed the surprise? Even still, surely he should be more… concerned? I mean, a boy was pretending to be a girl! That usually defined someone as a cross-dresser… but… the thing was he couldn't really _see_ Ryou as a cross-dresser. He didn't wear _skirts_ to school, or wear girly-looking tops, and he didn't wear any jewelry. Not only that, but just the mere _thought_ of Ryou being a cross-dresser just didn't seem right… He kind of just looked like a masculine girl.

Or an effeminate boy…

Just then, another thought plagued Marik's mind. _Was Ryou transsexual?_ It would make sense… I mean, he must obviously consider himself a girl to be like this… right…? The girls would definitely accept him if he said that he thought of himself as a girl. The Girl's Club members were _known_ for accepting misfits, they would have no problem then. Even Amora would have no problem! But – again – it didn't really seem like Ryou was trying too hard to be a girl if he _was_ a transgendered teen…

_There must be a more logical explanation…_ Marik reasoned, _Something must have happened… Maybe he just wants to see what it's like? Maybe –_

Marik's mind froze as he realized something else.

… _Ryou changes in the girl's dressing room…_

A – a _boy_ was changing in the _girls'_ dressing room? How the hell did the girls not notice! Is-is Ryou doing this to spy on innocent girls?

No, no. Ryou doesn't seem like that type of person… he's _not_ that type of person; that sounds more like Bakura. If Bakura swung that way anyways…

Marik quickly got his mind off of Bakura. Did they all know Ryou was a boy? Did they all know and not care? But Amora surely wouldn't allow that! Even if Ryou _was_ a transgendered teen, the girls, especially Amora, would not let a _boy_ change in the _girl's _dressing room! … Unless… did Ryou get a sex-change operation? Marik paled at the thought. _No_, he told himself, _That can't be it… if that was true, then Bakura wouldn't have said that he's really a boy. After all, if he had a sex-change then he's not really a _boy_ anymore right? Besides, their parent surely wouldn't have allowed that…?_ Marik convinced himself that it was _highly_ unlikely (though still, only _slightly_, plausible) that Ryou had a sex-change, so then how and _why_ would he change in the girl's dressing room?

Unless… is Ryou gay?

If the girls _did_ know, the only reason they would let him change there would be because he's transsexual or gay… right? But still, the _school_ wouldn't allow that! Surely they must know what's going on in gym class? Not to mention the fact that Ryou was in the _Girl's Club_ – a club specifically for _girls_. Surely the school knew _that?_ Unless… was Ryou registered in the school as a girl? That would be the only way the school would allow him to change in the girls' dressing room… And if he was registered as a girl, then did that mean that he _had_ been changed into a girl?

Marik sighed. He wished he could just _ask_ Ryou why he was pretending to be a girl, but how would he ask that? "Hey Ryou, I know you're a boy, so why are you pretending to be a girl?" Oh yeah, that's not weird at _all!_ Sigh… Ryou probably doesn't even know Marik knows his secret yet, unless Bakura told him…

_That bastard better not have told him…_ Marik thought angrily as he glared in the direction of their house. Ryou would surely avoid him if he knew his secret was out – even to just one person. Damn, and he and Ryou had been getting along so well too… Was that going to be ruined now? Was their relationship going to be ruined before it even took off? Great, that's just fan-freaking-tastic.

Marik ate his cereal as if he had a grudge – which he kind of did. As he chewed his cereal, his mind brought up a good point: _If I _do_ ask Ryou out, everyone would think I'm straight because they think he's a girl…_

The kitchen was filled with spluttering as Marik started choking on his cereal. _D-did I really just think that?_ He pounded on his chest to stop himself from coughing, _I must be going insane or something… _

"Marik!" his brother, Rishid, called from the top of the stairs, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah!" Marik called back, smiling softly. His brother must have heard him choking and was worried… just like him.

"Good, don't die on me!"

Marik laughed, "I won't!" He heard the door close softly, signaling that his brother went back into his room for some reason.

Of course now Marik was flagged with a whole new possibility… And since Marik is too embarrassed to let anyone know what it is, you'll just have to guess (come on… it's obvious…). So far, the only explanations for Ryou's… _situation_, he'll call it, is that he's a cross-dresser, transsexual (mentally _or_ physically – or _both_), or gay. How the hell was he supposed to figure out which one?

As he put another spoonful of his cereal in his mouth, one thought stood out to him: _One thing's for sure, I don't think any less of Ryou_.

He wondered why that was exactly.

* * *

Meanwhile, Bakura was having a rough morning as well. He was currently brushing his teeth ferociously in the bathroom. He couldn't fall asleep last night either, and the reason can be summed up all in three words:

Marik and Ryou.

Bakura now felt like he was a complete idiot. Why had he told Marik the "big secret" of Ryou being a girl? Marik was _obviously_ gay, so confirming his suspicions that Ryou was in fact a boy was possibly the _worst decision he could have made_. Great, just great! Why had he been such an idiot? Why had he told him the truth?

Bakura slammed his toothbrush down. He knew the answer to that question – he had told Marik the truth because he had "opened up to him" and then spoke without thinking. _Dammit_, Bakura thought, _stupid emotions… blocking out my common sense… Now what's going to stop Marik from asking Ryou out? He had already liked him when he thought he was a girl!_ He spit out the toothpaste suds in his mouth angrily. _Surely this will only encourage him more… _Bakura bonked his forehead against the mirror and let it stay there – his hair acting as a shield around his face.

Bakura knew that Ryou would probably reject Marik if he _did_ work up the nerve to ask his little brother out. Ryou was still hurt from his last girlfriend – and it didn't seem like he was used to being attracted to boys yet… if Otogi being "lustful" was any indication… Yes, even though he _knew_ that Ryou wouldn't go out with the Egyptian right now, it didn't help much. It was just a matter of time before Ryou got over his heartbreak and… dare he say it? Start… _falling_ for that idiot Ishtar.

Bakura snarled and stood up straight, staring at himself in the mirror. No. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, NO! He can _NOT_ let that happen! No! Marik was not going to take Ryou away! Ryou was _not_ going to be taken away from him!

… Not again…

Bakura walked away from the mirror, tired of the picture. He walked back into his bedroom, not being able to help the memory of when he and Ryou used to share a room crop up… that had been when they were younger, before he told his dad… you know… He could remember sharing the room clearly:

"_Okay kids!" Ryou and Bakura's father said as he walked into their new house, "You can either share a room, or you can each have your own! Which do you guys prefer?"_

_A five-year-old Ryou looked over at Bakura with a smile and a sparkle in his eye, "I want to share with Big Brother!" a light blush went over his nose, "But if we get a bunk bed I have to sleep on bottom – I'm scared of heights…"_

_Bakura laughed, and attempted a smirk, but it turned into a cheeky, childish grin (he hadn't yet mastered his trademark smirk at five), "Of course Ry, no problem."_

_Ryou hugged his brother, who returned it, "Thanks Big Brother!"_

_{Two Years later…}_

"_Bakura?" seven-year-old Ryou's quiet voice rang out into the dark of their bedroom, "'Kura? You awake?"_

"_Yeah," Bakura said, even though he had been about ready to sleep, "what's wrong?"_

"_I can't sleep… I keep thinking of that movie we watched…"_

_Bakura groaned slightly. Dad had let them watch their first scary movie (actually, he and mom and been watching a scary movie, and when their sons showed up dad convinced mom to let them watch it with them) .Long story short – Bakura had been ready, Ryou… not so much. "It's fake Ryou, monsters aren't real and they aren't going to hurt you."_

"_I know but… when I close my eyes, I can still see the monsters face… you know, when he jumped out at that girl?"_

"_Yeah yeah… Well… What do you want me to do?"_

_Bakura heard shuffling from the top bunk – Ryou had gotten over his fear and now preferred the top. "I know we haven't done this in a long time…" his shy voice came clearly down to Bakura, "But… could I sleep with you? Only for tonight?"_

_Bakura was silent as his brother's request woke him fully. _

"… '_Kura?"_

_It was the use of his nick-name that made Bakura cave – "All right… but only for tonight…"_

_He could imagine Ryou's relieved, grateful smile in his head. His brother descended from the stairs quietly, making sure not to wake mom or dad. He got under the covers and snuggled up to his Big Brother – burying his face under the older sibling's chin, legs curling up so as not to bother him. "Thanks 'Kura… I promise it's only for tonight…"_

"… _Whatever…" Bakura answered. As Ryou gently drifted off to dream land, Bakura laid his arm over his brother, which encouraged Ryou to snuggle closer. Once Bakura felt that Ryou was definitely asleep, he said, "I promise that no monster is gonna get you while I'm here…"_

_He could have sworn he felt Ryou smile… he could have _sworn_. But of course that was ridiculous._

Bakura finished brushing his hair and put the brush down, coming out of his memories and back to the present world. That promise was still valid – he was still protecting Ryou from monsters, they just changed from horrible, ugly-looking killers to stupid, arrogant bullies and jerks, like Otogi.

Bakura's eyes widened fast as he realized something. _Was Marik considered a monster?_

… He certainly wasn't an _Otogi_, that's for sure, but he wasn't exactly a 'Ryou' either now was he? But… he _was_ trying to take Ryou away from him… should that consider him a monster?

Bakura put a hand over his mouth in thought, crossing his other arm in front of him. _This is a tough decision…_ He shrugged it off and classified Marik into the "?" category, for you see, in his mind there were five categories that people he meets go into: the "Friend" category (Ryou and his father are the only people in this category), the "Enemy" category (he has _waaaay_ too many in this category), the "Invisible" category (people he doesn't know well, people he sees randomly in places, or people he doesn't want to know), the "Monster" category (basically anyone who's ever bullied [or in Otogi's case, hit on] Ryou), and the "?" category (as the name implies, anyone who doesn't fit into the other categories). Yes, Marik was a definite "?" category situation… He wasn't a friend because… he just wasn't. He _could_ be an enemy, but he could tolerate him better than most people so he didn't really fit there either. He _definitely_ wasn't invisible (how could he be?) and, as much as he hated to admit it, he wasn't a monster because he's actually been _nice_ to Ryou, and it's obvious he wouldn't hurt someone who doesn't annoy or anger him. Plus, even though he liked Ryou he wasn't being all _Otogi_ about it.

Bakura smiled. That was now a new term "being an _Otogi_." Bakura liked making up new principles and terms and things like that, it was fun to talk about them and have other people look confused.

He walked over to his kitchen and decided to make some omelets for himself and his brother/sister. As he took out the supplies he'd need for the omelet, he thought about how Marik might act around Ryou now… No matter how you look at it, it's just plain _weird_ for a boy to pretend to be a boy, not only that but Ryou was in the _Girl's Club_ and changed in the _girl's dressing room_ (although he knew that his brother just high-tailed it to the bathroom every gym class but still, Marik doesn't know that). Would Marik be able to handle this new information? It's easier to handle ideas when you're not sure if they're true or not – you can just shrug it off and say your mind is just weird – but now Marik knows that it's not just a weird idea his brain came up with, now he knows that it's true. And it's not like this is something you can ignore and forget about! This is something that hits you in the face and sends you flying backwards every day. Maybe this would turn out to be a good thing if Marik leaves them alone because they're too weird… Actually, that'd be _great!_ Bakura smiled as he thought of a world where Marik would just ignore them both. Although, in the next instant his mind spit back, _That would be boring actually…_ and he had to admit, that though he might not enjoy _Marik_, he enjoys arguing and messing with him. Of course, he's always appreciated a good insult-swap, it increased your wit and sharpened your mind, making you ready to take on new and better opponents around every corner.

He was snapped out of his musings when he smelt smoke coming from the omelet he was trying to make.

* * *

As for Ryou, he was laying in bed – fully awake. He hadn't gotten much sleep last night either, and his reasoning can_not_ be summed up in three words or less. No, the reason for his lack of sleep could actually be a sentence, or even a paragraph, for he had _many_ things that kept him awake the night through. I will attempt to sum it up as best as I can now:

He was still worried about Otogi because it seemed as if nothing would keep him away for long – he doubted that if Bakura drew blood from him that he would stay away – and he could not understand it! Why wouldn't he leave him alone? It was obvious that he had no interest in him whatsoever, and surely his past encounters – or possible future ones – with Bakura aren't good for his health? Why does he keep coming back? Ryou could not figure it out – it's not like he had anything someone like Otogi would want. He certainly wasn't _pretty_ or _womanly_, what could Otogi possibly see in him? It didn't make any sense…

Unfortunately for Ryou, that is only what kept him up for _half_ the night.

What kept him up for the rest of the night was the last Girl's Club meeting. One girl had floated the idea of having a sleepover by the others and they all had _loved_ the idea. Not _liked, __**loved!**_ How the heck was Ryou going to get out of this? He didn't have a job yet so he couldn't say that he was working late that night and couldn't make it, he was all caught up with homework so he couldn't say he had to stay home and catch up. He could say he had to stay home and help Bakura with his homework… but the girls would tell him that he could do that another night. One girl had already tried to explain that she couldn't make it because she had to babysit her brother, and the other girls had complained and told her to convince her parents to hire someone else to babysit. There was no way the girls would let him get out of this… and how could he explain to Bakura where he was going for the night? He'd been pretty supportive so far of his, _predicament_, but there was no way he would be able to stand _this!_ How was he going to get out of this?

And, while worries of Otogi and a possible sleepover floated around in his head and tormented him, occasionally he was beset with the thought of Amora and how she hated all boys who tried to sneak into the girl's locker room or did any other sort of activity like that. Oh, if _she _ever found out Ryou's secret, he'd be dead for _sure!_ Heck, if _anyone_ found out about his secret he was dead! There was no way anyone would be able to handle – much less _keep_ – a secret as big as this! If anyone ever found out he would have to go to a different school, he would _have_ to. He wasn't even sure what he would do if he knew someone knew he was really a boy… he wouldn't be able to talk to them, that's just it – he would have to avoid them. Heck, the person would probably avoid _him!_ No, he definitely couldn't let anyone find out, and that was why he could _not_ let Bakura tell Otogi the truth. There was definitely _no way_ that _Otogi_ could keep this a secret. _No way_. He couldn't even _think_ of anyone that would be able to keep this a secret. Amora definitely wouldn't keep this secret, Anzu would probably be nice about it and keep the secret, but she'd definitely ignore him and she _certainly _wouldn't let him in the Girl's Club or the girl's dressing room. Yugi… honestly, Ryou didn't know Yugi all that well, but it seemed as if Yugi would act the same as Anzu. Atem would probably side with his brother, only he'd probably tell him _exactly_ what he thinks about this – nice or not – and want to know _why_. Jounouchi and Honda… he could see both of them being extremely freaked out that a boy was pretending to be a girl and probably ignore him. Plus, they'd probably tell _someone_ – just because it's too weird. And it _was_ weird! It _is_ weird! Honestly, the only person who Ryou could even _fathom_ to keep this secret was… Marik.

Marik seemed like a reasonable character, and it didn't seem like he judged people (considering he probably has a lot of experience with judging and being judged). Yes, Marik was probably the only one that could keep this secret… but would Ryou _want_ him to know? Of course not! Ryou wouldn't consider telling him directly, but if he found out… Actually, if Ryou knew that Marik found out the truth, he would probably be embarrassed: _he_ would probably ignore _him!_ He just couldn't deal with it – and even if Marik could keep the secret there was no way that he'd still want to be friends with him! In fact, if his secret got around the entire school, he would be a social outcast. He would probably have no friends, and everyone would probably hate him for lying…

Dear god, what has he done?

Bakura was right – he should have told the girls the first day of school… then he could live as a normal _boy_, then he wouldn't have to lie, then he wouldn't have to fear being a social outcast if the truth ever got out. Although, if his secret did get out and he did become a social outcast, he had no one to blame but himself. It was his fault and his fault alone, and he would get what he deserved! Lying to everyone in class, keeping up this charade, changing in the _girl's dressing room!_ Even though he didn't look any more than he had to, it was just… _wrong!_ Oh, why did he have to get himself into this? _Why?_

That was the last word that rang through his head as his alarm clock chimed to his ears. He grudgingly sat up, and for the first time _ever_, he didn't feel like going to school today. He didn't even feel like making breakfast. He would rather lie in bed all day and wallow in self-pity than go to a school where he had to lie to everybody all the time. Yes… staying in bed felt so good right now… why didn't' he just stay in bed? …

Ryou sighed deeply, grudgingly got out of bed, and started get ready for school tiredly.

…

As Ryou was getting ready for school, Bakura was carrying out a plan he had gotten as he had heard Ryou's alarm clock go off. He put the two cheese omelets he had made onto a tray, covered them with a towel, and sneakily taken them up to his room – as quiet as an experienced thief. At this time, Ryou had been in the bathroom so Bakura did not have the risk of being seen. He put the tray under his bed and put pillows and other various, useless things in the bed to make it seem as if he was still asleep. Then he went to go hide in the shadows of his closet until it was time to pop out. And, although he was trying his hardest to be quiet, he couldn't help the, somewhat malicious, chuckle that cascaded form his throat.

Poor Ryou, who knew nothing of Bakura's planning, exited the bathroom and descended the stairs to the kitchen. He looked in the fridge to try and decide what to make, and noticed that they were missing a few eggs and some cheese… for you see, shopping was mainly his duty, so he had to know what they had so that he knew what they would need. As he looked about in the fridge, he also noticed that they were missing some cheese as well… Odd that he didn't notice until now. He couldn't even recall making or eating anything cheesy, or using eggs for that matter. Where had they gone? Was Bakura doing some midnight snacking? Ryou closed the fridge and held up his forefinger to his mouth for a few seconds as he pondered the possibilities. As he turned, deciding he would just make some cereal, he noticed something extremely odd.

There was a frying pan on the stove.

Ryou recalled him and Bakura doing the dishes last night, and there had not been a pan there before… He glanced at what was on the pan, and it was just as he had expected.

Egg and cheese debris stuck to the bottom of the pan, and who knows for how long they had been there! He turned and ascended the stairs, determined to have a word with Bakura, for by now he was sure he was behind this. He creaked open Bakura's door, peeking his head through the small opening. When he saw the lump in Bakura's bed that signified that he was still sleeping, he crept in slowly. He walked up to the bed and gripped the head of the sheets lightly, then, he tugged, revealing a pile of pillows, books, and anything else you could imagine being in a room on the bed. Dumbfounded, Ryou scratched his head, starting to worry at what his brother might be concocting. He was about to turn around when he felt someone grab his arm. He screamed, but only for a second or two before the dark figure put his hand around his mouth. Ryou, remembering what his parents had always told him to do in this sort of situation, was aiming to kick his attacker where it hurts before he heard a familiar chuckle. Ryou, just a little confused now, furrowed his eyebrows and said, "Bakura?" but since his mouth was still muffled by his brother's hand, it came out as more of a, "Bafua?"

Bakura released his hold on his brother and instead held his stomach from laughing. "D-did you _actually_ think that someone was attacking you?" he asked amusedly.

Ryou glared and crossed his arms. "That wasn't funny Bakura! I was getting ready to attack you…"

"I know, that's why I let you know it was me before you would," he broke into a grin, "besides, do you _really_ think you could've hurt me?" before Ryou could answer, Bakura said, "Tell me, what did you think when you first saw the pan on the stove?"

Ryou pouted, "I thought you had a midnight snack and didn't clean up afterwards…"

Bakura laughed, "Just like you – assume the worst from me."

"That's not true…!" Ryou argued right before Bakura swept past him and took a metal tray out from under his bed. "While it may or may not be true," Bakura said as he gripped the towel that covered the tray, "I'll bet you weren't expecting _this_ now were you?" he tore the towel from the tray dramatically, and gestured to the two omelets as if he was a waiter presenting someone prestigious with a meal they ordered. The towel around his arm kept up the appearance.

Ryou laughed. "No," he said after regaining his words, "no, I wasn't expecting that!" Bakura smiled and – after brutally shoving the other things off of his bed – set the tray down gently on the padded bed, sitting cross-legged next to it. He patted the seat across from him, telling Ryou to sit down and eat. Ryou obliged with a smile, asking, "What got into you? Usually you're never up before six."

"I couldn't fall asleep last night," Bakura responded before biting off half of the omelet he made.

Ryou folded his hands and mumbled, "Itadakimasu **(1)**," before taking a small bite of his omelet. "Really?" he asked after he swallowed, "Me neither…"

"What's on your mind?" Bakura asked before he shoved the other half of egg and cheese in his mouth.

Ryou sighed. "I just… I feel bad about lying to everybody." Bakura was quiet. "I mean," Ryou continued, taking a small bite and talking while chewing (something he would _never_ do in front of someone else, but in front of his brother it was just fine), "I thought it would be fine, I didn't think I would have to continue lying, but with the Girl's Club and all… I have to keep on lying and lying and I can't take it!" Ryou took a vicious bite of his omelet, "Not to mention Otogi! I wish he would just leave me alone…"

"If he knew you were a boy he _would_ leave you alone," Bakura interrupted.

"Yeah, but then he'd tell everybody, and even if Amora _wouldn't_ immediately hospitalize me, nobody would want to be friends with me," Ryou slumped up and balanced his head on the palm of his hand, his elbow supported by his crossed legs, "I'm stuck."

Bakura was quiet for a little while, then he said, "You remember what dad always said?"

Ryou's facial expression got increasingly sadder. "He said a lot of things, which one are you talking about?"

" 'You have to learn to make the best of a bad situation,' " Bakura quoted, "remember when you got sick and couldn't go to that one kids' birthday party? What did you do?"

Ryou smiled nostalgically at the memory, "Mom and dad took care of me and I caught up on my sleep…" Ryou frowned again, "but how am I supposed to make the best of _this_ situation?"

Bakura stared at his little brother, and then reached across and gripped his shoulder, "Ryou," he said, "I've known you for a pretty long time now – my whole life – and from what I've seen, you get along better with girls," he smiled, "usually, that makes you a 'player' of sorts, but you don't like most of the girls that way, do you?"

Ryou shook his head, "Not really, no. No offense to them of course!" Ryou added hurriedly, "They're wonderful girls… I just… I don't know!"

Bakura shook his head, "Do you see? Ryou, if you were a boy I'm _confident_ that most of these girls would be falling all over you – you're nice, considerate, and you actually _care_ what other people think – that's a big thing to girls."

"Really?" Ryou asked, confused, "But it's only polite to listen to people…"

Bakura laughed, "You know Ryou, sometimes I think you _are_ my sister!" Ryou pouted and crossed his arms, making Bakura laugh more. "But anyways, since the girls think _you're_ a girl, you can be friends with them without them thinking you could become anything more than a friend, do you see what I mean?"

Ryou thought about it. "You mean," Ryou said, thinking about it, "That I should be happy, because I can have tons of girlfriends and not _really_ have a girlfriend?"

"… When you say it like that it sounds weird…"

"But that's basically what you're saying isn't it?"

"I guess so…"

Ryou thought about this, and then broke out into a huge smile. "You're right!" Ryou said, "Plus, they'd be more open with me if I was a girl than if I was a boy!"

Bakura looked disdainfully at his brother – he hadn't thought it would be that easy to cheer him up…

Ryou stood up. "Come on!" he said cheerfully, "We've got a school to go to!"

* * *

As the Bakura twins exited their house, Marik was just finishing washing his dishes (Bakura convinced Ryou to do the dishes later). He dried his hands and looked at his watch, seeing he still had a few minutes before Ryou and Bakura showed up to go to school. He grabbed his backpack and headed out the door just as his sister came down the stairs. "I'm sorry I'm late Marik," she was saying, "I overslept and –" she stopped talking when she saw him about to leave. "You're leaving?" she asked, a little hurt.

Marik smiled apologetically. "Sorry sis, I already ate, and my friends will be here any minute."

Ishizu smiled a little suggestively and said, "Oh, you mean _Ryou?_"

"Um…" Marik said as he scratched the back of his neck, "Yeah…"

"Okay…" Ishizu smiled again, "Have fun!"

Marik walked out of the door before his sister could hint more bluntly than that. Was it that obvious? It must be…

As he waited outside, he wondered how he should address the problem of Ryou actually being a boy… should he feign innocence? Or should he hint that he knows? As he thought this, he heard voices drift over the wind: "I'm telling you Ryou," Bakura's loud voice rang easily through the air, "Otogi won't tell a _soul_ if you let me take care of it!"

"No!" Ryou's voice yelled, "For the _millionth_ time no! Now be quiet, I don't want Marik to overhear." _Oh good_, Marik thought, _If he doesn't want me to overhear then that means he doesn't know that I know the secret… Dang, that's a confusing sentence._ As soon as the white-haired teens came into view Marik waved. Ryou waved back, and Marik almost expected Bakura to give a much more, _unfriendly_ greeting, but instead he did nothing. In actuality, however, he rolled his eyes but he was too far away for Marik to see.

Ryou walked up to Marik and smiled, "Hey! Been waiting long?"

"No, not really. Do me a favor?" Marik asked as he walked forward.

"What?"

"Stop asking that question."

Ryou laughed, "Okay."

"I told you that question was annoying," Bakura commented.

Ryou stuck his tongue out at him.

They walked on in silence until Marik said, "You seem much less zombie-like this morning Bakura."

Bakura snickered, "How kind of you to notice _honey!_" he teased.

Marik rolled his eyes. "You'd notice too if someone goes from a dead zombie to a five-year-old on a sugar rush."

"Well, if you _must_ know," Bakura said, "I was up all night defending the world from evil ninjas."

Ryou laughed and Marik glared. "I remember when you convinced me you actually did that!" Ryou said, "Every night I dreamed that my Big Brother was a better fighter than ninjas!"

"Hey!" Bakura argued, "I _am_ a better fighter than ninjas!"

"No you're not," Marik said monotonously.

"Watch it Ishtar."

"Oh right," Marik said with a smirk, "I don't _know_ you, do I? Not even after that talk we had yesterday?" Bakura glared furiously at him while Ryou giggled, "it was such _loooong_ talk too, isn't that right Ryou?" he nudged Ryou in the arm who giggled cutely, "Weren't we gone an _awfully_ long time?"

"Shut it Ishtar," Bakura growled, "Want to end up like Otogi?"

Marik raised an eyebrow. "What are you talking about? He's not dead," he said.

"Or is he?" Bakura asked with a dangerous glint in his eye.

"Bakura!" Ryou chastised, "That's not funny!"

"How can you be sure it's a joke sister dear?"

Ryou rolled his eyes and Marik fixed his gaze in front of him. Why oh _why_ did Bakura have to say sister? Did he just want to torment him? Actually, that was probably the case – never mind.

* * *

Once they arrived to school, Amora walked up to them hopping up and down like she was on a sugar rush. "What's up Amora?" Ryou asked right before Anzu arrived a little out of breath. "Amora!" she scolded, "You can't run off like that in the middle of a talk!"

"But didn't you do the same thing?" she accused.

"Yes, but I _excused_ myself before running off."

"Whatever! Ryou! You gotta see this!" she grabbed Ryou's hand and dragged 'her' away to whatever had her so excited.

"What's going on?" Marik asked.

Anzu sighed, "It's Amora, do you _really_ want to know?"

"If you'll excuse me," Bakura interrupted, "I'm going to go see where that crazy girl ran off to with my sister."

_Again with 'sister,'_ Marik thought,_ how does he say that so easily?_ But alas, Marik wouldn't get his answer at that time for Bakura did run off to see where the heck his sister had went. Marik decided to talk to Anzu and figure out what was going on from her instead of following them.

…

_Where the heck could they have gone?_ Bakura asked himself as he walked down the, somehow more crowded than usual, hallway. No sooner than he asked himself the question, however, than he heard a, "No way!" that sounded suspiciously like Ryou. He followed the source.

He soon found the white locks he was looking for, along with Amora and Mai. He walked up to them. "What's got Amora so excited?" Bakura asked.

Amora gestured to Mai, "Show him!" she said, her voice bursting with happiness and excitement.

Mai rolled her eyes, "It's no big deal!"

"Yes it is!" Amora exclaimed.

Mai sighed and held her hand up to her neck. She showed him a red, heart-shaped stone necklace that had the kanji for "love" carved on it on a silver chain. "It's just this – Katsuya gave it to me."

Bakura raised his eyebrows. "That's what's got Amora-san acting like a hyperactive squirrel?"

"I know right?" Mai agreed, "It's not a big deal."

"Not a big deal?" Amora said heatedly, "He gave you a _heart-shaped _necklace with the word _love_ on it! How is that not a big deal!"

"To be fair, " Mai said, putting her hands on her hips as if to defend herself, "Jounouchi didn't _give_ it to me, we were walking downtown and he just noticed that I was staring at this necklace for a pretty long time and he decided to buy it for me. It's not like he searched endlessly for it or something."

"But he still _bought_ it for you!" Amora said, trying to make Mai more excited. Ryou just watched the scene with amusement.

"What's up guys?" a new voice said.

Mai's eyes widened, "Run Jounouchi!" she said right before Amora turned and looked to see Jounouchi walking towards them. But one look at Amora's happy, excited, lovey-dovey psycho face, he froze in his tracks, paled, and high-tailed it in the other direction.

"Wait!" Amora called, "Jounouchi! _Lover-boy!_ You never told me you were the romantic type!"

"Leave me alone you psycho!" Jounouchi called behind his shoulder. But Amora wouldn't listen, she ran after him like her life depended on it.

Mai sighed. "Poor Jounouchi – he'll never hear the end of this…"

"Pardon me ladies," Bakura said again, "but _what_ is the big deal?"

Mai laughed. "I agree it's not _too_ big a deal Bakura-san," she said as she put her arm around Ryou, "but it's more of a girl thing. Right Ryou-chan?"

"Um…" Ryou hesitated, "R-right…"

Bakura snickered. "Well," he announced, "in _that_ case, I'm going to go have a _manly_ talk with some _men_. You know, since I'm a _man?_" He said the last part while looking at Ryou, whom then stuck his tongue out at him. Bakura just laughed and walked off.

Mai sighed again. "You know," she said, half-talking, half-thinking-out-loud, "I was beginning to fear that Jounouchi would _never_ ask me out…"

"Why didn't you just ask him out then?" Ryou asked curiously.

Mai scoffed. "Are you kidding?" she said incredulously, "Jounouchi's a sweetheart, but he's such a pig-headed _man_, he would never go on a date with a woman who asked _him_ out."

Ryou giggled. "Really?" he asked, "But if he really liked you, wouldn't he accept without a moment's hesitation?"

Marik paused, blinking a lot. She turned to Ryou. "Where were you a year ago?" she asked, "I wish I would have thought of that back then!" Ryou laughed. "You know," Mai continued, "I guess I should _thank_ Amora though," she said with a smile, "he probably would have _never_ asked me out if she hadn't meddled. But I just wish she would _stop_ meddling!" She turned to Ryou, "Could you talk to her?" she asked, "Please? I think she'll listen to you – she's sort of taken you on as her protégé."

"Really?" Ryou asked, "Why would you think that?"

"Oh please," Mai said, "haven't you noticed that whenever she talked about me and Jounouchi that she wanted you to come along? You may not realize it, but Amora's taken to you. She thinks that you'll make a lovely addition to the, "Love Squad" as she calls it."

"She calls it the "Love Squad"?" Ryou asked, trying not to laugh.

Mai rolled her eyes, "Ridiculous right? But please, can you talk to her? You don't have to do it at lunch – she probably won't listen _that_ soon – talk to her at the Girl's meeting today. She's bound to listen to you when Jounouchi's out of a five-mile radius."

Ryou hesitated before saying, "Okay, sure. I'll talk to her."

* * *

After a few boring classes, it was lunchtime for our main characters. They were sitting at their usual lunch table, only Amora was nowhere in sight. Which was odd, considering Jounouchi was sitting at the table in _plain_ sight, on the lookout for signs of the insane woman. He was soon patted on the back by Honda, who said, "Way to grow a backbone man!"

Jounouchi glared at him, but he continued, "I mean, who knew _you_ were the romantic type?"

Jounouchi stood up – his chair making a loud screeching nose, "I already get this crap form Amora," he said, his voice seething, "I _don't _need it form you too!" Honda held up his hands defensively. "All right, all right, easy big guy," his face broke into a mischievous grin, "But you have to tell me – when's the next date?" Jounouchi gripped Honda by the color of his shirt and shook him, "_What did I just say?_" He yelled.

"Jounouchi!" Yugi exclaimed.  
"Calm down," Atem continued.

"We're just happy for you," they both concluded.

"Do we do that?" Bakura whispered to Ryou, who simply shrugged in response.

Jounouchi sighed, "I'm sorry guys," he said as he let Honda go and sat back down, defeated, "I'm just… I wish people would leave me alone you know?"

"All right Jounouchi," Anzu said, "We won't bug you about it anymore."

Jounouchi rolled his eyes, "Yeah, try getting Amora to say that! The crazy chick won't leave me alone!"

"Oh Jounouchi," Kana-chan said, "She's just happy for you! You're like the brother she always wanted."

Jounouchi raised an eyebrow. "Brother?"

"Didn't you realize?" Anzu asked, "Amora thinks of you as her brother – you get on each other's nerves, you bug each other, you argue constantly – _classic _brother-sister relationship."

"How come," Bakura whispered in Ryou's ear, "when _they_ argue, it's a brother-sister relationship, but when me and _Marik_ argue, we're a couple?"

Unfortunately, Ryou ha been drinking milk at this time, and he started choking with laughter. After he managed to swallow it, he started laughing loudly, causing all at the lunch table to look at him curiously.

"S-sorry," he apologized, "Bakura said something _really_ funny."

"But it's a good question!" Bakura argued.

Marik was about to ask what they were talking about, when someone wearing a black shirt with a skull on it and a chain necklace showed up. "Hey," he said, looking at Bakura, "I hear they call you the Thief King where you come from."

Bakura was silent – as was everyone else at his table. "You heard right," he confirmed, "What's it to you?"

The kid smiled, "A few of my buddies would like to meet ya. Will ya come or not?"

Bakura smiled, "I'd be _delighted_," he turned to Ryou, "Sorry sis – my people need me!" He stood up with a flourish and walked out with the shady character.

Ryou sighed. "And I thought Bakura could go the whole year without making bad choices…"

"I have a question," Marik interrupted, "If he's _known_ for being the "Thief King," why isn't he in jail? Or at least juvy?"

"Only the delinquents know him as that," Ryou explained, "everyone else has no idea who keeps stealing from them."

"Wait," Honda asked, "Do you mean that he's stolen a lot of things?"

Ryou nodded.

"And he's _never_ been caught?" Atem inquired.

Ryou smiled sadly. "They don't call him the Thief _King_ for nothing."

Marik blinked, he had to admit, that was pretty impressive. And… kind of hot… _What am I thinking?_ Marik chastised himself before putting more of his lunch in his mouth.

"I just wish he could put the past behind him though," Ryou continued, "yes he stole, but he can change that! I don't see why he won't…"

"It's hard to let go of your past…" Jounouchi said cryptically. Everyone around him seemed sorry for him somehow, and Ryou was about to ask what Jounouchi meant when an ever-familiar voice came over to their table. "Hey beautiful, wanna skip school and come over to my place?"

Marik audibly groaned this time. "_Why_ do you keep coming back here?" he complained.

Otogi smiled and went down onto his knees so that he could put his face uncomfortably close to Ryou's. "I can't help it – your beauty keeps me coming back." Ryou turned away from him, red creeping up his neck. "Besides," he continued, "Two of your muscle-heads are gone – what are you gonna do to me?" he asked cockily.

Jounouchi stood up. 'Beat it Otogi, before _I_ beat _you_."

Otogi turned on the blonde. "Jounouchi," he said as on would say to an old friend, "How have you been? Have you reconsidered my offer?"

Jounouchi scowled. "Oh I've reconsidered all right. A _lot_ of times, I just keep coming up with the same answer."

Otogi chuckled deeply. "That's a shame…" he turned back to Ryou, "Whad'ya say babe, wanna eat lunch with me?"

"No," Ryou managed to say strongly.

Otogi scowled. "Well you know what?" he asked, gripping 'her' arm roughly, "I'm not going to give you a choice anymore!" He stood up – pulling Ryou with him, and was about to walk away when Marik stood up. "You're a coward Otogi!" he screamed at him. Otogi stopped and glared, tightening his grip on Ryou and causing him pain. "What did you say faggot?" he spat the words out with hate.

Marik crossed his arms. "You're a big coward – you only came over because Bakura left. You probably hired that guy to get him out of here!"

Otogi scoffed. "Why would I do that?" Ryou tried to get out of Otogi's grip at this time, but he tightened his grip even more on Ryou's arm and pulled 'her' closer to him. Ryou let out a small yelp of pain, which did not go unnoticed by anyone nearby – especially Marik, who was absolutely livid at this time. The Egyptian stepped forward and got right into Otogi's face. "Because you're scared of him," Marik said, "for too long you've been protected by school rules, but now you've met someone who doesn't give a _damn_ for school rules and you have _no idea_ what he might do next. But you don't give up on what you want easily do you? No, so you hired some guy to take your fear away so that you could come here and get what you want, well it's not going to work!" Marik yelled the last part, "Just _leave_ Otogi!"

Otogi scowled at him, but then smirked wickedly. "Fine," he said, surprising Marik and the others, "I'll leave, but first -" he looked at Ryou again and stroked 'her' chin seductively. Ryou blushed and tried to release himself from Otogi's hold, but his grip was too tight. Then, before anyone could realize what was happening, Otogi kissed Ryou – full on the lips.

Ryou's heart lurched, and he somehow managed to free his arm and push Otogi backwards. His head was down, he was shaking slightly, and his fists were clenching and unclenching – not unlike Bakura. He looked up with a glare that Otogi had only seen in Bakura's eyes, and it frightened him a bit for it was true – he _was_ scared of Otogi. "You…" Ryou said quietly, then louder, with more anger and murder in his voice, "You…! You disgusting _creep!_" With his last word he brought his leg up and kicked him where he had almost kicked Bakura this morning. Otogi let out a painful moan and collapsed to his knees, covering the spot where Ryou had kicked. Ryou rubbed at his mouth furiously, trying to rub the kiss out of his lips and memory, but this was proving harder than he thought.

Meanwhile, everyone else was just speechless. They couldn't believe that Otogi had been so bold – he had never kissed anyone _during_ school before! Before school, sure, after school, of course! But _during_ school? Never been heard of. Marik, however, was the most surprised, and the most furious other than for Ryou himself.

Then, something unexpected happened.

Otogi's fear, Bakura, seemed to just materialize in front of Otogi and gripped him by the collar, forcing him to stand up and causing him to moan in pain again. "Hey Otogi," Bakura said, grinning like a madman, "you want to know something funny? I could have just _sworn_ I saw you kiss my little sister, isn't that laughable?" he even _laughed_ like a madman too, "but that can't be right!" he continued, his voice sounding more hysteric with each passing second, "because if that _had_ happened, I would have to break every bone in your body!" he laughed loudly and maliciously again, "Isn't that just a _riot?_"

Otogi stared at him, trying desperately not to show the fear that he was feeling right now. But to no avail – the fear shown through, and it only proved to encourage Bakura further. He threw Otogi on the ground. "Since I'm feeling generous," Bakura said, "I'll give you one last chance to _never come by us ever again_, before I break _every single bone in your body_. Even your ears!"

Otogi stood up, trying to maintain his pride, glared defiantly at Bakura, and – not agreeing or denying to anything – walked off.

Bakura just stared at him, still seeing the red tint he had acquired when Otogi had done that uncalled for action. Ryou was _still_ rubbing his lips as if trying to get a pig clean! Bakura's heart melted as he saw the hurt in Ryou's eyes. He rushed forward and gripped his brother by the shoulders. "Are you okay Ryou?"He stopped rubbing furiously at his lips only to hold his stomach – his face having a green tint to him, made only more pronounced by his porcelain skin. "Ugh… I'm going to be sick…" he complained, "Where's the nurse's office?" he asked. Anzu stood up, "I'll take you," she said gently, putting her arm around 'her' and beginning to lead her to the sanctuary of the nurse's office. "Wait," Ryou said, turning back to Bakura. His jaw set, his eyes showing no mercy whatsoever, his fists clenched, he said, "Bakura, I give you permission to do whatever you want to Otogi."

Bakura seemed positively startled, "Are you sure Ryou?" he asked cautiously, "You won't be mad at me later? Or take it back?"

Ryou turned his back on his brother – something he would normally _never_ do. "Just get started on your plan before I change my mind. I have no doubt you already have a plan, am I right?"

Bakura nodded. "You are right."

"Good," he turned back to his friends, his face and voice void of all emotion. Actually, he looked a lot like Bakura at this instant, and the likeness was only increased with his next words: "I want to see him _crushed_."

Then he turned and headed out the lunchroom doors.

…

All was silent after that little show. At least a few moments after they left the lunchroom and the doors had closed firmly shut again, then Bakura's face broke out into a wicked smile. He grabbed Marik by the arm and said, "You're coming with me!"

"Where are we going?" Marik asked as he was being pulled along by Bakura's – surprisingly strong for how skinny he looked – arm.

"You'll see!"

"You know this isn't helping people's impression of us?"

"People will believe what they want to believe!"

"That's true," Marik agreed, "but that doesn't mean we should give them more reason to believe the untruthful." Those were the last words that rang through the cafeteria, for they were a particularly loud pair, and everyone had to wonder – where _were_ they going?"

However, they were never to find out.

Soon, Bakura stopped dragging Marik when they reached a deserted hallway with the doors all closed. "Why did you drag me here Bakura?" Marik asked again, his arms crossed – he was still pretty shocked by what had just happened and was not ready to deal with Bakura's crazy antics just then.

"Didn't you hear Ryou?" Bakura said excitedly, "He's allowing me to do _anything_ to Otogi!"

Marik raised an eyebrow. "And he wasn't before?"

Bakura shook his head. "Nope, he insisted that I not hurt him too bad – but today he must have crossed a line for Ryou to say this! Oh, Otogi will be sorry he ever messed with the Bakura twins after I'm done with him!" He let out a maniacal laugh that caused Marik to shiver uncomfortably.

"… Okaaay, I'm going to pretend that you _haven't_ completely lost your mind and ask you, what does that have to do with me?"

Bakura sighed. "As much as I hate to admit it, for this plan to work – I'm going to need your help."

Marik smirked. "_Reeeaaaly_ now?" he drew out mockingly, "The great "Thief King" needs _my_ help? Why, whatever for?"

Bakura rolled his eyes. "I don't have enough time to explain right now, but my plan involves you having to pretend to like Otogi."

"_WHAT?_" Marik said, outraged, "I can't even _tolerate_ him and you expect me to act like I _like_ him? _Have_ you lost your mind!"

"Possibly, but trust me!" Bakura defended, "After my plan is complete, Otogi won't ever look at your _or_ Ryou ever again!"

Marik scrutinized Bakura as he thought. Eventually he sighed. "Like in what way…?" he asked, almost afraid of the answer.

Bakura smiled, certain this meant that Marik was in on the plan. "I'm afraid it's the like in the way that everyone thinks _we_ like each other with."

Marik groaned. "_What?_ There's no way you can expect me to do that!"

"Come on," Bakura pushed, "You're a decent actor right?"

Marik raised an eyebrow. "What gives you that impression?"

"Whenever we've argued with Otogi before, you had no trouble pretending to act unlike yourself, and it seems that words come to you naturally. So, what do you say? Will you help me?"

Marik hesitated before saying, "And you're _sure_ this will take care of Otogi?" he asked again.

"Once and for all," Bakura promised. Marik was still hesitant. Bakura groaned. "Come on, how about this, if my plan _doesn't_ work by some cruel twist of fate, then I'll give you ten free insults."

Marik cocked his head and raised an eyebrow. "Ten free insults?"

"Yes – you my insult me ten times and I will not defend myself in any way."

Marik was taken aback at this statement. "Wow," he said, utterly astonished, "you must be _really_ confident that this plan of yours will work."

"I am."

Marik stared at Bakura before saying, "All right. You've got yourself a deal." He held out his hand and Bakura shook it seconds later. "Great," the plan master said, "I'll give you the details after school, by the girl's locker room."

Marik nodded. "All right."

"There's no backing out of this you know," Bakura warned.

Marik took in a deep breath. "I know."

Bakura smiled. "Good," he said, finally letting go of Marik's hand, "Then we have a plan to carry out my friend."

Marik smirked and was about to say something when Bakura continued, "And I mean friend in the very _loosest_ of terms."

* * *

Ryou was brushing his teeth furiously in the girl's bathroom with Anzu close by. Ryou had been hesitant to go inside at first, but he _really_ wanted to brush his teeth and clean his mouth, and since Anzu had went with him he had no choice but to go into the girl's bathroom. Ryou spit into the sink for the third time before rinsing his mouth out and brushing again. He still couldn't believe that just happened.

"… Ryou?" Anzu spoke hesitantly, "Are you okay?"

"No," Ryou answered despondently. He clunked his head down on the hard sink and let his head rest there. "I feel violated, I feel dirty, I feel… _angry_," he brought his head back up and started brushing his teeth with new vigor. He spit once again and turned to Anzu, "He _licked_ me Anzu!" he said, tears shimmering in the edges of his eyes, "I'm just lucky my mouth wasn't open…" he turned back to the sink and kept brushing.

Anzu took this new information in with a heavy heart. "I'm so sorry Ryou…" she said.

Ryou sighed, "You don't understand Anzu!" Ryou said, spitting into the sink again, "That… he…"

"… What?" Anzu pressed, taking a step closer to him.

"… That was my first kiss…" Ryou said barely above a whisper, but Anzu still heard, and now she was horrified. "What?" she asked hysterically.

Ryou looked at her with a broken look in his eyes. "That… _he_ had been my first kiss…"

"But…" Anzu floundered, not wanting this to be true, "You said you were in a relationship before…?"

"Yeah, I was, but I was never brave enough to kiss…" he turned back to the sink, "That's probably why she cheated on me…"

"Did you just say she?" Anzu questioned.  
Ryou froze, "No," he tired to say nonchalantly, "I said he…"

"I could have sworn you said… oh it doesn't matter," she said, hugging 'her,' "Poor Ryou! To have your first kiss stolen by such a monster!" Ryou felt tears choking him now. "Do you want to talk about it?" Anzu asked.

Ryou shook his head. "No thank you, not right now…"

Anzu nodded. "That's understandable…" suddenly, her eyes widened as she smiled, "How about at the Girl's meeting tonight then?"

Ryou turned to her, "What?"

"Yes! It's perfect!" Anzu exclaimed, "_One_ of them is bound to say _something_ to cheer you up!"

"Oh I don't know…" Ryou hesitated.

"Come on! This is what the Girl's Club is for!" Anzu continued, "To help girls with their problems! And this is as big a problem as I've ever heard!"

"… Well…" Ryou resolved, "All right… at the Girl's Club then."

* * *

"Girls," Anzu's voice rang out through the locker room. It was after school, time for the daily Girl's meeting. "Today, it is my sad duty that I present you with a very serious problem," she said solemn-faced as she looked about the locker room, "it is regarding a girl's precious first kiss," shuffling was made all around the room, discomfort becoming thick in the air, "I suppose you can all guess what has happened then?" Agreeing mumbling was heard throughout the room. "Well, then it will not come as much of a shock when I say that today, a girl's precious first kiss has been brutally taken from her," even though the girl's had already guessed that's what had happened, there were still incredulous gasps all around. "And," Anzu continued, "it was taken by none other than Otogi Ryuji." Many audible and horrified gasps went about the room, and Amora stood up angrily. "_What?_" she said, outraged, "Who?" she demanded to know, "Who is this girl that Otogi violated this way?"

Anzu shook her head, but she glanced at Ryou, who stood up meekly. "… It was me…" he said, eyes cast downward.

All was silent, and then he felt someone touch his arm comfortingly. Ryou looked up, his eyes threatening tears again, to see that it was Kana-chan who was trying to comfort him. "There there Ryou…" she said, rubbing his arm soothingly, "we're all here for you."

"Yeah," another girl spoke up. The other girls hastily, but meaningfully, agreed as well. Another girl went up and hugged him. "It wasn't a _real_ first kiss," she said, trying to reassure 'her,' "I mean… you didn't kiss him back did you?"

"Of course not!" Ryou said indignantly, "I was disgusted! I don't even think he brushed his teeth this morning…"

The girl smiled, "See?" she said, "It can't be counted as your first kiss if you didn't kiss him!"

"I… I guess so…"

The other girls said similar things, and in a second Ryou was lost in the girl's voices, not really differentiating between the different voices, he listened to them all as a whole, and found his vision beginning to swim. Suddenly, Amora's voice rang through the crowd, "Enough!" she shouted, "While it's highly important that we make sure Ryou's okay," she said with a concerned look at the 'girl' in question, "I think it is more important to take down Otogi once and for all! He has gone too far this time! Stealing a girl's first kiss… That's just… despicable!"

The other girls agreed wholeheartedly, but one spoke out, "But, how are we going to teach him a lesson?"

Amora smiled evilly, "I'm glad you asked," she said. And as she began to tell the girls of her plan to take down Otogi, Marik and Bakura were discussing their _own_ plans to take down the same man right outside the locker room.

"… I have to say," Marik said in astonishment, "that this is a _brilliant_ plan!"

Bakura smiled smugly. "Told you."

"But why do _I_ have to be the one who pretends to like him?"

"Because A, you've known him longer, B, you hate his guys, so anyone would believe that that was just to cover up your true feelings, C, no one would believe that _I_ could like him after making him unconscious yesterday and threatening to break his bones today, and D, you're the only other gay guy I know at this school."

Marik tapped his foot on the floor and sighed. "You're right…"

…

"This plan is _brilliant_ Amora!" Kana-chan exclaimed as Amora finished revealing her plan.

She smiled proudly, "I know."

"It's full proof!" one girl said excitedly.

"I don't know girls…" Ryou said worriedly.

"Come on Ryou!" Amora pushed, "Trust me, after this plan is done, Otogi won't even _look_ at you again!"

"Well… Okay…" Ryou finally succumbed.

How were they supposed to know that Marik and Bakura were also planning to take down Otogi? How could they know what was to come in the future? How were they to expect what would happen next?

* * *

**(1)**: "Itadakimasu" basically means: "Thanks for the meal" in Japanese. Most likely spelt wrong.

**MUA HA HA HA HAAAAAAA! I feel so EVIL! *evil smile* What could these two _horrifying_ plans be? What will become of Otogi? Well, you'll have to REVIEW to find out! *evil smirk* Aren't I just evil? XD Haha, oh, and this chapter probably isn't it's best, but I've kept you all waiting so long... besides, if I did re-read it I would proably only change minimal things. **

~~~{REVIEW REPLIES!}~~~

**Vi**: Lol, don't sweat forgetting to review – at least you reviewed the last chapter! XD I'm glad you liked them! And yeah, it's getting interesting *evil grin* Thanks for reviewing! =D

**Cai**: Haha, tell me about it! What is it about high school Aus that are just AWESOME? XD Haha, I totally understand not logging in. And thank you! I'm glad I've improved! =D  
Haha, I didn't necessarily say it was _going_ to be thiefshipping now did I? I just said I really want to do it… XD Lol, in truth, I'm still debating between angst and thief… but there will still be epic battles of feelings and LOTS of unrequited love and, conflicted emotions? Don't even get me started… XD  
I'm a polarshipper too (obviously XD) lol, did you enjoy the necklace Jounouchi got for Mai? :3 And that was actually one of my fears when writing this story – that my OCs would annoy the readers, but I'm glad you like them =)  
And yes, you _should_ have seen Bakura admitting that he liked Ryou to his dad coming. I thought I was making that bloody obvious… XD Lol, I'm glad you like the story! Thanks for reviewing! =D


	7. In Trouble?

**Gosh DANG IT! **_Why_** am I such an avid Thiefshipper? ! ? ! ****TT_TT**** Also, this chapter is Pegasus-heavy ****;D**

Chapter 7: In Trouble…?

"PEGASUS!" the principal, Kannibal-sensei, yelled at Japarica High School's guidance counselor, "You are my boss and I respect you very highly, but we cannot let this continue!"

Pegasus was just sitting calmly in the principal's office in the chair where a misbehaving kid would sit, right leg over the left, his hands folded in his lap, his face void of all emotion, except, perhaps, for patience. The principal himself, a short, slightly stocky man with short black hair and a thick mustache, was staring at Pegasus angrily.

"There have been _three_ lunch periods now where someone has been physically hurt!" the principal continued, "Usually I would have put a stop to this right away, but you _insisted_ that we 'wait it out' and 'let the kids solve their own problems.' Surely you must see that these children are not going to solve their differences without intervention _now?_"

Pegasus said nothing in response – just kept staring at the principal calmly. This was one of the reasons why the principal felt comfortable yelling at his employer – Pegasus always reacted responsibly, reasonably, understanding anger and confusion very well.

The principal sighed and sat down, rubbing his temple that was throbbing painfully because of his anger. "If kids go home and tell their parents that students have been hurt and there have been _no_ repercussions, they are going to take their students out of our school! We _must_ intervene now!" Still, Pegasus said nothing. "Furthermore!" Kannibal added to his case, "I am _certain_ that all of these instances have been caused by one of the new students – Bakura Bakura."

"To be fair," Pegasus spoke for the first time, "he _was_ provoked."

"That is not the point!" Kannibal exploded, "the point is that his past school records indicate a not-that-bright, violent, troublemaker, and yet you were _adamant_ that we let him in. You said, and I quote, "He will make a _wonderful_ addition to our school!" Now I ask you, _how_ is he making a "wonderful" addition to our school?" Kannibal was dumbfounded.

Pegasus smiled and put his leg down, moving his arms to the armrests. "You must understand Kannibal-sensei, that to make a _successful_ school, you must have all sorts of people – not just the brightest, or the strongest, or the 'elite.' No, to make a _successful_ school, you must open the kid's minds to all possibilities and all kinds of people – for if they don't meet them in High School, where will they meet them? In the adult world? Isn't a High School meant to prepare our young minds for the adult world? How can we do that if we only fill their head with facts? We must provide life lessons, we must encourage the students to come up with their own morals, their own set of justice, we must help the students to understand that the adult world isn't the safe and righteous world they thought, or still think it is.

"That is why he is making a _wonderful_ addition to our school – he is providing the kids with a different frame of mind, a different kind of attitude on life, which is forcing them to reevaluate their own thoughts of the world and decide what they think is right, which in my opinion is a very good thing. Also, I was hoping that our school could help _him_; he seems such a terribly lost and angry soul… based on the previous guidance counselors' notes and my own observations. Did you know that both of his parents died in a car crash?"

"Of course I knew that!" Kannibal said exasperated, "I'm the principal of the school! But at this rate, he's going to scare everyone away!"

Pegasus stood up. "I don't mean to interrupt you principal," he said, using his title instead of his name this time, "but tell me – I must know – what is your opinion of a certain Otogi Ryuji?"

Kanniba blinked a few times. "Otogi-san?" he asked, "He's a wonderful student! He's a cunning one that Otogi – master at chess, excellent grades, never in trouble, always polite, seems like a good role model. Why?"

Pegasus smiled. "Just as I thought. Are you aware that Otogi-san has a different girlfriend almost every week?"

"It is not an educator's job to meddle in the student's personal life," Kannibal said coldly.

"Ah, yes, you have a point there," Pegasus agreed, "but, I am a guidance counselor, and wouldn't you say that my _job_ is to "meddle" in the student's personal life?"

"Well… Your job description is to help the children through high school…" Kannibal said, stalling to think of the right answer, "so… whatever it takes I guess."

"Ah, well then," Pegasus said, smiling, "may I ask you what _you_ heard happened in the lunchroom for the past three days?"

"I heard," Kannibal started stiffly, "that Otogi-san has been teased, physically hurt and/or threatened three times now. Mainly by Bakura, but Ishtar helped him. Surely you have heard the same thing?"

"And where did you hear this information?" Pegasus asked, ignoring the principal's question.

"Well…" the principal hesitated, "from Otogi…"

"Ah," Pegasus said as if getting to the bottom of something, "and did he tell you _why_ he was hurt and threatened?"

"The _why_ doesn't matter Pegasus," the principal insisted, "what matters is that it happened –"

"Okay, yes, I see your point," Pegaus interrupted, "But tell me, _did_ he tell you a why? Any sort of explanation about what caused the student to act like this?"

"Well… No," Kannibal admitted, "but –"

"Then pardon me principal," Pegasus interrupted again, "but you do not know the whole story now do you?"

Kannibal started to get angry now. "Pegasus, I understand your need to get both sides, but this has been going on long enough!" Kannibal exclaimed, "the fact of the matter is that a student has been physically hurt. Whenever that sort of thing happens, it is the school's job to dictate proper punishment! We cannot let this continue _un_punished! The students need to learn that this kind of behavior is not tolerated."

"Think of this Kannibal sir," Pegasus said, "why didn't anyone else report this abuse? If Otogi _was_ hurt, why was it only him who told you? Wouldn't other students have told you about this as well?"

"Oh please," Kannibal said, waving his hand dismissively, "students never report violence on others, they probably thought it was funny."

Pegasus was silent for a long time, staring into space. Kannibal felt like asking if he was okay, but didn't because Pegasus was known for being weird at times. Of course, aren't all Americans weird at times? "You know Kannibal," Pegasus said, thinking, "if a girl went up to you and said that Otogi was harassing her, and Otogi told you that he was doing no such thing, who would you believe?"

Kannibal was stunned for a second. He seemed to think for a minute before asking, "What does this have to do with the current conversation?"

"Just answer the question please."

"Well…"

"And could you tell me _why_ you would believe whoever you believe?"

Kannibal hesitated, fiddling with his fingers. Beads of sweat started to break out on his forehead – Pegasus had put him in a tough spot. "Well… it depends what girl…"

"All right, say it's a girl who is known among her peers for telling the truth, but is not exactly the brightest of the bright. Who would you believe?"

Kannibal seemed extremely nervous now, sweat was visible on his head and by his mustache now and he was avoiding Pegasus' eyes. It didn't help that Pegasus was a head taller than him. "I would…" Kannibal started, "I would probably… believe Otogi…"

Pegasus didn't seem shocked at all, but he did widen his eyes just a little. "And why would that be Mr. Kannibal?"

"Well… I mean," he started, "Otogi has never been… accused of that sort of thing before…"

"Really?" Pegasus asked, putting his hand to his lip, "I seem to recall a _couple_ of very distressed ladies coming to me and saying that Otogi physically assaulted them. When I told them to tell you, they said that you didn't believe them. Would you tell me why that is, Mr. Kannibal?"

"I…" Kannibal hesitated once again, he pulled at his dark blue shirt collar, "… Students tend to resent those who are smart…"

"So are you saying that you didn't believe the girls because you thought they were making it up because they were not as smart as Otogi?" Pegasus asked with a tilt of his head.

The principal turned red-faced. "Are you accusing me of favoritism Pegasus?"

Pegasus held up his hand defensively, palms facing the principal. "I am simply trying to get to the bottom of things Kannibal-sensei, relax. If this _really_ bothers you, I will talk to the students one by one. And I assure you, no one will get hurt today."

Kannibal narrowed his eyes. "Even if no one gets hurt _today_," he said, not so nervous anymore, "the matter of the past few days is still present, we cannot let _that_ go unpunished."

Pegasus smiled. "I assure you sir, the past few days _won't_ go unpunished, however, I feel it best to wait until we hear everyone's story before making a hasty decision. Don't you think that is better than serving justice to those who don't deserve it?"

Kannibal knew he couldn't argue with that. "All right," he said sitting down again, "but if this matter isn't resolved in two weeks, I'm punishing whomever I deem fit. Is that clear?"

Pegasus nodded. "Crystal sir." He moved to the door, but just before he walked out, he said, "You know Kannibal, if you wish to keep your job, you might want to do it better," and then he left, shutting the door quietly behind him. Kannibal stared at the door, and then buried his head into his hands, as if ashamed or distraught. He understood Pegasus completely.

* * *

Ryou was downstairs making a light breakfast of fruit and rice since he still felt a bit sick from yesterday. He went green remembering it. He shook his head to rid himself of these thoughts and drank some more water out of a glass cup he had taken out of the cabinet. He inhaled deeply, and let the breath out slowly, but then the thoughts of the girls' plans to get back at Otogi entered his head and he couldn't help but feel a little… what's the word… nervous? I mean, what if the plan didn't work? Then what? Ryou drank more water.

At this point, you're probably wondering what plan the girls had in mind exactly, well, since Ryou doesn't exactly feel comfortable explaining, we'll wait a while to see. I hope that's okay with you, because Ryou wouldn't want to make anyone upset.

Ryou turned his head with surprise as Bakura came down the stairs emitting a large yawn as he did so. He dropped his backpack on the floor and took a seat at the kitchen table – dropping his head on the wood as soon as he was seated. "You're up early," Ryou commented.

Bakura rubbed his eyes. "Me and Marik have big things planned – wipe that stupid grin off your face! – and I wanted to get up early to make sure I didn't forget anything. Do we have any coffee?"

Ryou laughed. "What kind of plans do you have?"

Bakura smirked. "The ones I'm known for back at our old school."

"You mean the ones that got you suspended?"

"Those are the ones."

Ryou's eyes turned a little sadder. "Promise me that you won't hurt him _too_ bad?"

Bakura smiled. "I seemed to remember a certain sibling of mine saying that he wanted Otogi _crushed_."

Ryou paled slightly. "D-did I _really_ say that?" he asked shocked.

"Oh yeah."

Ryou sighed. There was no denying what was already said… "What kind of coffee do you want?"

"The strongest we have." All was silent save for the cooking rice and the birds outside. Then Bakura asked, "Why are you so mad at Otogi anyways?" he sounded genuinely curious, "I mean, don't get me wrong – I'm _happy_ that you're so mad at the jerk, but I mean, it's not like that was your _first_ kiss or anything right?"

Ryou was silent as he tended to the rice – his back to his brother. He turned around fast with a smile on his face. "Yeah, I guess you're right… But still, he just… crossed a line."

Bakura shrugged. "Whatever." He stood up and walked over to his backpack and started searching through it for something. Ryou went back to the rice. _I can't tell him…_ he thought, _Bakura might commit _murder_ if he found out that was my… _first_ kiss…_ But as he thought this, he couldn't help but wonder – when would the lying end?

The rice was finally done cooking so Ryou dished it out on two separate plates along with strawberries, watermelon, and peaches. Bakura came back to the table with a black notebook and, after taking one look at the food, looked back at Ryou, "What the heck is this? Where's the _food?_"

Ryou seemed insulted. "This is the food!" he insisted, "I just… wasn't feeling too well this morning…"

Bakura took one look at how distraught his brother was and sighed. He ran a hand through his hair. "All right… can you make me my coffee though?"

Ryou smiled. "Sure! How much sugar?"

"As much as we have."

Ryou rolled his eyes and got to work on the coffee. As he was doing that, Bakura flipped through his black notebook to a certain page. On it was written in horrible penmanship:

"Otogi Goes Down:  
Step 1: Steal something with his handwriting on it.  
Step 2: Purchase/steal/GET diary.  
Step 3: Steal his iPod/MP3 Player/music player/whatever the hell he uses to play music on.  
Step 4: Find a tech nerd.  
Step 5: Talk to class 9-A's teacher.  
Step 6: Call Marik.  
Step 7: Improv in the classroom.  
Step 8: ?"

Bakura smiled at the words written on the page. If someone actually knew what they meant, they would seem _much_ more evil. But that was the point of these cryptic steps – so that in case it somehow got lost no one would be able to know what the heck his plan was. Unfortunately, 'Step 8' was yet to be written down, and he wasn't going to write it down where Ryou could see his plan. He shut his notebook just as Ryou handed him a cup of potent black coffee.

"Thanks _sis_, you're the best," he said with a mocking yet playful smirk.

Ryou smiled back at him with almost the same expression on his face. "Anything for my _darling_ older brother – is there anything else I can get you Onii-chan?"

Bakura smiled at the use of "Onii-chan." "Not right now," he answered, "but thanks for asking." He took a sip of his coffee while making sure Ryou couldn't get to the notebook easily.

"Um…" Ryou interrupted as he sat down, "you don't have to wait for me after school today. Me and the girls are all going to the mall…"

Bakura raised an eyebrow and shrugged. "Okay, have fun with that. Marik's coming over anyway, so it actually works out."

Ryou's eyes widened. "Marik's coming over?" he asked as he put a forkful of rice in his mouth.

Bakura's eyes narrowed. "Why does it suddenly sound like you want to come home instead of go to the mall?"

Ryou smiled. "I'm just surprised is all – you _never_ invite people to our house."

"Hey!" Bakura protested, waving his fork angrily through the air, "I invite people to our house!"

"Name one time."

"… That one time in fifth grade –"

"Dad made you invite him – that doesn't count."

"… Well," Bakura said leaning back and putting a strawberry in his mouth, "Maybe if people were more _interesting_ I would feel inclined to invite them to my home."

Ryou smiled slowly. "Are you saying that Marik's interesting?"

"I never said that."

"But you implied it."

"Damn it Ryou!" Bakura said angrily, "I don't fucking like Ishtar! Could you please drop it?"

"If you don't like him what do I need to drop?"

"Ryou," Bakura growled dangerously.

"Okay, okay. Sorry, I'm just happy that you finally have a friend!"

"Ishtar is not my _friend_, he is my partner in revenge. There is a big difference between _friend_ and _partner_."

"Keep telling yourself that 'Kura."

Bakura growled as he shoved rice into his mouth.

Ryou sighed and ate some watermelon.

"How are you getting home?" Bakura asked.

"Amora offered to walk me home," Ryou answered, "don't worry, I won't be alone. I think even if I told Amora not to walk me home she would still follow me to make sure I was okay."

"Good," Bakura responded right before he shoved more rice into his mouth. But he couldn't help but feel… unwanted. Just a little bit. Usually, it was always up to him to make sure that Ryou was safe, but now… there was this Amora person… Bakura pushed these thoughts aside and ate some more of his fruit – even though he would have rather had bacon. Or some other meat-product.

* * *

Marik was waiting outside of his house again, waiting for the Bakura twins to show up. _That's hardly fair,_ he couldn't help but think, _they're called the Bakura twins, when one kid is _named_ Bakura. There should be a better name for them…_ Marik tried to think of something else to refer to them as instead of the "Bakura twins," but couldn't think of anything that fit exactly right. "Ryou and Bakura" was too long, same with "White-Haired twins," and it's not like they could be called the "Ryou twins." He didn't know either of their middle names and he didn't really want to ask them. They could be called the "Bakura _siblings_," but it still used the word Bakura… They can't just be called "The Twins" because Atem and Yugi are also twins… There really isn't another title to refer to them both as, is there? That's not fair… Marik was determined to find a different title to refer to them as, he just needed to think… unfortunately, just then Bakura showed up in front of him and shoved a black notebook at his chest. "Here," he said with a smirk, "read it, love it, learn it, live it. Because _this_ is the plan to take down Otogi written down."

"I thought you already told me the plan?" Marik asked with a raised brow.

"I added some things."

Marik took the book and flipped it open. "What kind of cryptic instructions are these?" he asked after seeing the first few instructions, "why do we have to steal –" Bakura covered his mouth quickly. "_SHH!_" he whispered at him.

"What do you have to steal?" Ryou asked, standing with his arms akimbo and a disapproving look on his face.

Bakura closed his eyes and swore before turning around on his heels with a smile. "_Nooothing_ sister dear!" he assured, "Marik just misread the word."

Ryou narrowed his eyes. "Yeah, I'm sure."

"What's with step six?" Marik asked, pointing to where it said, "Step 6: Call Marik."

Bakura smirked. "That one will make sense with time, you're coming over today right?"

Marik nodded. "Yeah, it's okay with Isis."

"Who's Isis?" Ryou asked curiously.

"My sister, she's in charge when Rishid's not home."

"What about your father?"

"He works late," Marik answered hastily and dismissively, giving Ryou the impression that not all was right with Marik's home-life. Marik shut the notebook and handed it to Bakura. "So when are we doing the first step?"

"Today. If I'm right, Otogi _should_ leave us alone today, so that gives us the opportunity to carry out steps one through four. We might even get to step five, and then we'll do step six at my house."

"Um, guys?" Ryou asked, "we should get going to school or we'll be late…"

"Right," Marik and Bakura said in unison. Marik walked forward with Ryou while Bakura followed, stuffing his black notebook in his backpack.

"Ryou's going shopping with the girl's," Bakura told Marik, "so just come to my house right after school."

Marik stared at Ryou quizzically. "What are you buying?"

Ryou smiled. "The girl's thought I should have a change in wardrobe…" he said cryptically.

Marik stared forward completely baffled. _Does that mean he's going to wear more girly clothes to school now?_ he asked himself, _why doesn't he just say he doesn't want to? Unless he _does_ want to?_ Marik's eyes began to swim and he had to shut them tight before opening them again. He _needed_ to find out _why_ Ryou was pretending to be a girl, then he would be able to understand and not feel so dang confused all the time! Right now all he knew was that he was pretending to be a girl, but he was still confused as to _why_. And that's kind of important you know.

They walked to school talking about nothing in particular, Ryou tried to figure out exactly what Bakura was planning, but he wouldn't budge an inch. Ryou tried to find out from Marik, but Marik just shrugged and said, "I can't understand your brother's cryptic speech." Ryou pouted, but then sighed. "Yeah, he can be _very_ cryptic sometimes," he agreed.

"Usually for good reason," Bakura explained with his trademark smirk.

"I remember one time when you made up your own language just so that _no one_ would know what you were talking about. What was the point of that again?"

"The _point_, dear sister, was to confuse the teachers."

"Wow," Ryou and Marik said at the same time. They turned to each other and smiled, causing Bakura to roll his eyes. "Whoop-dee-doo-da," he said, "you talked in unison, it's not exactly that hard you know."

"I suppose you're right," Ryou said with a grin, looking at his brother slyly, "after all, you do it all the time with Marik."

Bakura glared at Ryou, one eye twitching. "Am I missing something?" Marik asked.

"No," Bakura said the same time Ryou said, "Yes!" Marik looked at them both with a look that said, "… Seriously?"

Bakura sighed. "You know where Otogi's locker is right?" he asked Marik.

"Unfortunately, yes. Seriously though, why do we need his MP3 player? I know why we need his handwriting and the diary, but that's really it."

"I told you – I added some stuff to the plan. Just tell me where his locker is so I can do my job."

"And what job is that exactly," Ryou asked, suspicious.

"The job of breaking into his locker and _stealing_ some of his homework, hopefully not graded yet," Bakura added the last part under his breath, "and then _stealing_ his MP3 player."

Ryou thought for a second, seeing as Bakura was going to steal _something_ no matter what, and asked, "… What _do_ you need the MP3 player for?"

"Something!" Bakura responded hastily.

* * *

"NO!" Jounouchi yelled at someone in an empty spot outside the school, "There is _no way_ I'm letting you ask Otogi out just for some _stupid_ plan you and the girls made up!"

"And why not?" Mai asked, putting her hands on her hips and staring angrily at him, "It wouldn't mean anything!"

"But what if he _does_ something?" Jounouchi asked, folding his arms.

"Oh please," Mai said with an eye roll, "you don't think I can take care of myself? Geez! You _finally_ ask me out just _two days ago _after a _year_ and you already think that I don't know how to take care of myself without you? I'm three years older than you Jounouchi!"

"I don't care!" Jounouchi yelled, "I don't want to risk it."

"There's nothing to risk!" Mai yelled, "I'm not even _going_ on the stupid date! I'm just asking him out!"

"… What?"

Mai sighed. "The _'stupid'_ girls' plan is to have every girl ask Otogi out and then stand him up."

Jounouchi seemed confused. "What will that accomplish?" he asked, completely dumbfounded.

"Think about it," Mai said, "what Otogi prides himself on is having every girl fawn themselves over him, but he hasn't been able to re-claim the Girl's Club members. If he thinks that we _all_ like him, he'll swell with pride, and then when we _all_ stand him up, he'll _lose_ all of that pride and then some."

"… That's evil…" Jounouchi said, "But why do _you_ have to ask him out?"

Mai smiled. "This is where Amora's scheming mind comes in handy. You used to be a part of Otogi's gang, remember?"

"Don't remind me," Jounouchi growled.

"Right. Anyways, Otogi hates that you escaped from his group and would do _anything_ to get back at you. If he thinks he's stolen your girlfriend form you, he'll feel even _more_ pride, and then lose even more when I stand him up." Jounouchi smiled at the word 'girlfriend.' "Besides," Mai continued with a smirk, running a finger across Jounouchi's chin, "when this is all said and done, you can rub me in his face."

Jounouchi smiled. "I'm starting to like this plan…"

Mai chuckled. "So you're fine with it?"

Jounouchi sighed. "I guess…"

Mai hugged her new boyfriend, "Good! 'Cause I was going to do this whether you were okay with it or not."

"What?" Jounouchi asked, angry now.

"See you later Jounouchi!" Mai said as she ran out of there.

"Hey!" he yelled after her, "You get back here!"

All he heard was Mai's laughter as she ran back inside the school.

* * *

Ryou, Bakura, and Marik arrived at school with plenty of time to spare. They stopped at their lockers first to get ready for the day, and then they walked over to where the rest of the friendship gang was. "Why not Miho-chan?" Honda was asking the purple-haired girl, "Why can't I go to the mall with you and the girls?" he sounded sort of desperate.

"Because!" Miho exclaimed, "It's girls only!"

"Wah!" Honda complained, a sad look on his face, "You're being so mean to me!"

"Trust me Honda, you don't want to come with…" Anzu said with a look that said she meant it too.

"But why not?" Honda asked.

"We're not going there for fun," Amora explained, "we're going there to carry out a plan."

"Plan?" Atem asked, confused, "Plan for what?"

Amora grinned and held up an index finger, playfully scolding, "Ah ah ah, _you'll_ have to find out when it's done!"

Bakura looked at Ryou with a questioning look – obviously wondering what this 'plan' was. Ryou just smiled sheepishly and shrugged.

Miho smiled. "Miho-chan still can't wait to go to the mall though!" she exclaimed, "Can you Ryou?" she asked, turning to 'her.'

"Um…" Ryou said, surprised by the question, "Well… I don't really like shopping…" When Ryou said that, Marik was even more confused of why he was going shopping…

Amora's face brightened. "Yes! _Finally!_ A girl who doesn't like shopping!" it was obvious she was very happy, "All the girls around here either _love_ shopping, or they like it but aren't obsessed with it."

Ryou smiled. "It figures you don't like shopping Amora."

"You're darn right it does!"

Yugi, who had wanted to ask something since Ryou got here, asked with a concerned voice, "Are you feeling any better Ryou?"

Ryou nodded. "A little," 'she' said.

Kana-chan patted her on the shoulder. "Don't worry, you'll feel better later on," she assured. Ryou knew she was referring to the plan they had concocted and laughed nervously. Bakura glared at his twin, and was about to say something when Jounouchi appeared with a grumpy expression.

"What's wrong man?" Honda asked.

Jounouchi sighed. "Nothing… what are you guys talking about?"

"Mai told you about our plan didn't she?" Amora asked, though it was more of a statement than a question.

"Yes," he grumbled.

Amora giggled. "Sorry Jounouchi! But it has to be done."

"Whatever."

"Okay," Marik said, getting fed up with all the cryptic speech that had been around him since this morning, "_what_ plan are you guys talking about?"

Amora grinned, and was about to say something when her smile fell and instead she whispered urgently, "Pegasus alert!" The change in the group was immediate; they all acted like there weren't any evil and/or mischievous plans being put into action, and Yugi and Atem started a new topic of conversation about the homework that they had to do last night. Bakura was surprised and a little proud that this group of people could change topics so easily when required. It reminded him of his old gangs and how they had to do the same thing to avoid suspicion… Ryou just tried to keep up with the sudden change, not really understanding why it was required or why everyone was so wary around Pegasus. He seemed a nice person, albeit a little weird, but isn't everyone?

Anyways, true to the word, Pegasus soon arrived with a smile on his face. "Good morning children!" he said cheerfully, "How are you this fine morning?"

"Good," the group answered as one, minus two white-haired siblings. They were shocked at the unison and therefore didn't answer, but Pegasus either didn't care or didn't notice. "Good," he repeated, "Wonderful. Bakura," he said, turning to the older twin, "may I have a word with you?"

Marik was surprised. Obviously, Pegasus must know what's been going on for the past few days or he wouldn't request to speak with a new student so quickly. Bakura exchanged glances with a nervous Ryou and said, "Um… sure."

"Excellent, right this way please," the guidance counselor said as he turned on his heels and gestured behind him. Bakura walked in the direction he indicated, soon to be followed by the counselor himself. As soon as they were out of ear-shot, Marik said, "He's dead."

Ryou turned to him, paler than his already pale complexion. "Wh-what do you mean?" he asked, clearly nervous.

Marik was shocked at how much his comment upset Ryou and immediately felt guilty. "I didn't mean he's _literally_ dead," he clarified, "it's just that… Pegasus obviously knows what's been going on, so he's in trouble. Probably."

"Yeah," Jounouchi agreed, "Bakura probably in trouble."

"Oh great…" Ryou said, staring at the direction his brother had went, "and we've only been here a few days…"

"I'm sure it will be fine Ryou," Yugi assured, "Pegasus believes in second chances, he'll probably just get a warning."

"Yes," Anzu agreed, "it'll be okay."

"Though he might be a little freaked out by Pegasus…" Jounouchi mumbled and was immediately given a glare form Anzu.

Ryou sighed. "I guess I'll believe you guys…" but he still couldn't help but worry… even if it _is_ just a warning, Bakura will get in trouble again somehow, and then he'll get suspended… Why do these things always happen…?

* * *

"How are you Bakura?" was the first question Pegasus asked when they were in his office, "You never did answer when I asked you before."

"I'm fine," Bakura answered, taking a seat on a couch in the room. He looked around, the décor was made to look like you were in a meadow, with the grass-green carpet and the sky-blue walls, there was even grass painted where the floor met the walls and clouds painted on the ceiling and walls. There was also paint around the light fixture in the middle of the room to look like a sun. But the allusion of being outside was shattered with the window, chairs, couch, cherry-wood table, and minnie-fridge in the room. But there wasn't a desk like most guidance counselors' rooms… "Where's your desk?" Bakura asked, curious.

"I feel that the presence of a desk makes students feel like they're in trouble," Pegasus answered, "so I don't have one. Instead, I have a small filing cabinet in the corner over there," he pointed to one of the corners, where a sky-blue filing cabinet tried to blend in with the walls. Bakura smiled at the effort to camouflage it. He liked this room, it was much more… relaxing than previous guidance counselors' rooms. He put his hands behind his head, propped his legs on the table, and looked at Pegasus, who was seated in a tall, red chair a few feet away. "So why am I here then?" he asked, getting right to it.

"Oh, I just wanted to see how you're adapting to the school –"

"Look," Bakura said, placing his feet firmly on the table and glared at Pegasus, "I know you people, and you counselors never ask to see someone just to _check on how they're doing_, so why am I really here?"

It was silent between them, then Pegasus smiled. "Such a smart kid…" he said, amused, "All right, I'll get right to it then," he stood up straighter, put his left leg over his right and folded his hands in his lap. "I have become aware of the… _situation_ between you and Otogi, and I'm here to ask questions."

Bakura scowled. He should have known this would be about Otogi, he probably told on him and now _he_ was going to get punished because _he_ was an immature homophobe? That's messed up. "What?" he asked angrily, "Did the little baby snitch on me or something? He started it!"

"I am aware of that," Pegasus said, surprising Bakura. He had thought that Pegasus was basically going to scold him and tell him to stop messing with Otogi, but it was almost as if he was… _agreeing_ with him. "I just want to hear your side of the story Bakura. So," he placed his feet firmly on the ground, moved his arms to the armrests and leaned forward, "what happened according to _you?_" he asked.

Bakura blinked at him, sure that at any moment Pegasus was going to say, "I was just kidding, you're in huge trouble," or something like that, but it never happened. "You want to hear my side?" he asked, skeptical.

"Yes," Pegasus said, "but not only that, I want to hear the truth."

Now Bakura was even more baffled. It was as if Pegasus didn't believe whatever crap Otogi had told him and believed _him_ before he even explained anything. "Well," Bakura started, stalling just in case Pegasus decided to take his word back, "if you _really_ want to know what happened, then I'll tell you."

"Please do," the guidance counselor urged. Bakura narrowed his eyes. He still didn't trust this man, he could just ask him what he thinks so he could use it against him later. "You know Bakura," Pegasus said, standing up and walking towards the window, "Even if you don't tell me, I already have a basic idea of what has been going on. But alas, I cannot tell you all of what I think, I can only give you the watered-down, teacher to student version," he stared out the window as if he was looking at something fascinating. "Would you like to hear it anyways?" he asked, not turning around.

"Sure," Bakura said, curious to see where this was going.

"Very well," Pegasus said, leaning on the windowsill, "what I think happened is that Otogi went to go torment Marik, and you, being a person who doesn't like people with Otogi's… beliefs or _fears_," he put emphasis on the word 'fears,' obviously hinting at _something_. Bakura had a pretty good idea what that was and smiled, "went to go defend him and yourself. And, though I'm not sure how, Ryou is involved in some way, it seems Otogi's taken an _interest_ in him?" Pegasus looked at Bakura with a raised brow. Bakura looked back at him, wondering if he _did_ know how Otogi's taken an interest in him, and if he knew about Ryou's predicament. Pegasus smiled and turned back to the window, "Well, no matter. Anyways, it appears that Otogi wants _something_ from your brother, and so he keeps coming back and bothers you and your friends. You defend your brother, sometimes with violence, and scare him off, and then he told the principal with, no doubt soliciting certain information.

"So," Pegasus asked, turning to him fully now, "did I get it right?"

"Completely," Bakura answered.

Pegasus smiled. "But, as I said before, I do not know _everything_, so I would like to hear your side of things."

"First I need to know if you know something," Bakura said, narrowing his eyes, "what do you know of Ryou?"

Pegasus smiled. "I know more than you think Bakura, and I'll know more when I talk to her, I mean, _him_ later."

With that, Bakura assumed Pegasus knew full well what was going on with Ryou. But now his question was, why wasn't he doing anything about it? "Why aren't you…?"

"Doing anything?" Pegasus finished for him, "Because I would like more information first."

"It seems like you have plenty to do something," Bakura commented.

"Don't question my methods Bakura."

"You are a strange man."

"Thank you, now will you please tell me your side? I would rather not have you late for your first class."

"Why should I tell you?" Bakura asked.

"Because the principal is going to punish you and Marik unless I can prove that Otogi is the one at fault here," Pegasus explained, being completely honest.

"What?" Bakura exclaimed, "but Otogi's~!"

"A straight-A student with the favor of the principal."

Counselor and student stared at each other, reaching a silent, mutual agreement. "All right," Bakura said, "you're being brutally honest with me, so I'll be brutally honest with you. Excuse me if I get a little…"

"Personal? Emotional? Act in a way that most teachers would punish you for?"

Bakura found himself smiling. He liked this person, he liked him a lot. He didn't answer the counselor's question, he just went right into his tale. Telling him what's _really_ been happening the past few days (including how Ryou was pretending to be a girl, which didn't surprise Pegasus at all Bakura noted) and _exactly_ what he thought of Otogi; mainly that he's a worthless, weak, pompous, arrogant, idiotic, annoying, homophobic jackass who doesn't know when to quit. During his tale the bell had rung, and while Ryou was even more worried when Bakura didn't show up for class, the oldest Bakura twin was having a blast letting out all his anger. He had never known that could be good for you, he usually just bottled it all up. Well, usually since his dad died anyways. He concluded his truthful account with what happened yesterday, when Otogi kissed Ryou.

When Bakura was done, Pegasus was silent. His hand cupped his chin and his eyes were closed. He opened them suddenly, "Has he bothered you today?"

Bakura smirked, "Not today, and not ever again after a while."

Pegasus smiled. "Well, thank you for your tale Bakura, I now have a much better understanding of what happened. By the way," he said as he stood up, "I am aware that you and Marik have a sort of _plan_ you're carrying out?" Bakura opened his mouth to say something, but Pegasus interrupted him, "Personally, I do not care at all about this plan. In fact I am in full support of whatever you two cooked up. If I may say, I never liked Otogi, I was hoping I could help open his mind a little… but it seems as if it has only become more closed…

"I do have on question though," Pegasus admitted, "it was to my understanding that you and Marik _hated_ each other, why are you working together?"

"Oh I hate him, don't get me wrong," Bakura assured, "but he's fun to argue and mess with and he hates Otogi like me. Plus, he's… _perfect_ for the plan I have in mind," he smirked.

"Perfect how?" Pegasus asked with obvious curiosity.

Bakura was caught off guard by the question, which was not an easy thing to do. "Um… Well… He's pretty smart, the fact that he can battle me in wits is proof of that, and this plan requires a brain. Plus, I'm fairly certain he's good at acting, which, again, is required. And… he's really the only one that came to mind when I concocted this plan in the beginning. Oh! And he has a personality I can work with, not too passive, not too aggressive either, it's _perfectly_ in the middle," he put more emphasis on 'perfectly' to connect the two statements.

"Hm, interesting. Yes, I think Marik would be a good actor as well, considering his history…"

"History?" Bakura asked, determined to find out what this 'history' of Marik's is some way or another.

"Oh, it doesn't concern you. I agree that his personality is _perfect_ as well."

Bakura narrowed his eyes though, "You seem to know a lot about the students, do you spy on us or something?"

Pegasus laughed a little too boisterously for Bakura's liking. "Oh heavens no! That would be very unprofessional, I have other methods that I use." Bakura raised an eyebrow, remembering how his sort-of-friends had told him that Pegasus could see into your mind. He could see why people would think that, but he probably just has spies all over the school or something. "Well," Pegasus said, "It is my _job_ to know what's going on in the student's lives you know."

Bakura shrugged. "I guess."

"Just count yourself lucky that I am the only teacher aware of your plan for revenge. However," he said as he walked towards the door, "I know some other teachers would not be as … accepting of how you're handling this, and so I'll give you some advice," he opened the door, then turned to Bakura, "be careful." Of course, what Pegasus _said_ was, "be careful," but he said it in a way that meant, "be sneaky." Bakura smiled, stood up, and walked toward the door. " '_Careful_,' " Bakura said, putting extra emphasis on the word, "is my middle name."

"Good," Pegasus said, "um… how long do you think your plan will take?"

"It should be done by the end of the week," Bakura said with smug satisfaction.

Pegasus nodded. "Wonderful, I'm glad we had this talk. I hope we can have another one like it later on, what do you think?"

"Sure," Bakura said. He wouldn't mind talking to this weird yet fascinating person again. Bakura walked out of the room, and was on his way to the classroom when Pegasus said, "Wait a second!" He disappeared inside his room and came out with a sky-blue envelope. "Give this to your teacher – it will excuse you for being late," Pegasus explained as he handed him the letter.

"Okay," Bakura said as he took it. He wished he could see what was written on the thing, but it was sealed, and these letters were most likely _always_ sealed so his teacher would know he looked at it if the envelope was opened. Bakura walked back to his classroom slowly, not really caring what boring lecture or lesson the teacher was giving at this time. He wasn't even sure how much class time he missed, most likely half the class. He didn't feel Pegasus staring after him, smiling smugly. _One down, three to go_, he thought.

* * *

Bakura soon made his way back to the dreaded classroom, even though he would have much rather done anything else. He took a deep breath to compose himself and get rid of any emotion he might have on his face before opening the door. When he opened the sliding door, _everyone_ turned to look at him he noted with a twinge of annoyance. _It's not like anyone's ever been _late_ before_ he thought. He really just didn't like people looking at him unless _he_ wanted them to.

He kept his face void of all emotion (including his annoyance which was escalating with each passing second) while the teacher said, "Bakura-san! Would you care to explain why you are late today?" He held up the envelope, and the teacher was silenced immediately. Apparently the teacher was familiar with these types of envelopes. "Well," she said impatiently, "don't just stand there, bring it here." He walked up to the classroom silently and handed her the letter. She opened it hurriedly and read it, a scowl hardening on her face with each passing word. She sighed. "Very well, take your seat." Bakura smiled smugly and took his seat behind Ryou, who turned around and mouthed, "What happened?"

"Nothing that concerns anyone," he mouthed back just as the teacher said, "Ishtar-san, Pegasus wishes to see you."

Marik seemed surprised. He turned to Bakura who shrugged with a smirk, meaning "I know why he wants you, but I'm not going to tell you." Marik glared at him and stood up, "Okay sensei." He walked out, making everyone wonder what was going on because Pegasus _never_ requested two people in a row.

Unless they were connected in some way.

* * *

Pegasus heard a knock on his door. "Come on in Marik!" he called.

Marik walked in and sat down where Bakura had sat earlier. He hated how this room immediately calmed him, Pegasus made it just so it would have that affect. "You wanted to see me?" he asked.

"Yes, you are already aware that I have talked to Bakura yes?"

"Yes."

Pegasus sighed. "I do wish you kids would talk more, Bakura's the only one who ever told me _exactly_ what was on his mind without soliciting anything. That's the kind of relationship I want with my students, not this 'I ask questions and you answer warily' routine."

"Sorry Pegasus," Marik said, "but you must know that it's awkward for anyone to talk to a counselor about anything."

Pegasus sighed again, "I know…" he admitted, "But you used to tell me everything! You haven't stopped by here in so long, how are things at home?"

"Fine," Marik answered as if everything _was_ fine at home. Which, by his standards, it was.

Pegasus smiled. "That's good, how are things at school? Has anyone been bothering you lately?"

Otogi immediately entered his mind. He scowled. "Yes," Marik confessed, "the same homophobic _jerk_ that's _always_ bothered me just by being there."

Pegasus smiled. "Funny," he commented offhandedly, "Bakura said almost the same thing…"

"Not surprising."

"What do you think of Bakura anyway?" Pegasus asked, getting sidetracked. Or was he? It was hard to tell with this man.

Marik hesitated, then shrugged. "He's… definitely different."

"Different how?"

"He doesn't…" Marik searched for the right words, seriously thinking about this, "he doesn't care what anyone thinks of him… He's not afraid to say what everyone else wouldn't _dare_ say, and he's definitely not afraid to _do_ what others have been dying to do. It's kind of refreshing, I feel like…" Marik paused.

"Yes?" Pegasus encouraged.

Marik surprised himself with the next words that came out of his mouth, "I feel like I can be myself around him."

"Hm," Pegasus said with a small smile, "interesting."

Marik narrowed his eyes, wondering what Pegasus was thinking. "He's also an arrogant jackass – I mean, jerk."

"Oh Marik, it's perfectly fine to swear in my presence. This is a place where you can say anything you want free of punishment."

Marik was shocked. "Really?" he asked, a grin making its way across his face, "Well in _that_ case, I think Bakura's the most arrogant, annoying, know-it-all, sarcastic, insane person I've ever met, and I'm surprised he isn't in the nuthouse."

Pegasus actually _laughed_ at this comment. "Funny," he said again, "he had nothing but good things to say about you."

Marik was surprised yet again. "Like what?" he asked curiously, sure that Pegasus must be joking. Just the idea that Bakura had anything nice to say about _anyone_ was surprising. Unless it was Ryou, then it was almost _expected_.

"Something about you being perfect…?" Pegasus said with his hand to his chin, his head upwards, and his eyes closed – obviously trying his hardest to remember. Marik found heat rising to his face and he was glad that Pegasus' eyes were closed. _He said I'm… perfect?_ He thought, _that can't be right… it's probably a mistake…_ _There's no _way_ that he would say that, no way_. But he couldn't help but wonder… what if he _had_ said he was… perfect…? What does that even mean, perfect. Perfect for _what?_ The one thing that his messed up mind spat back at him right away was something he _really_ didn't want to hear: boyfriend.

_AAAAAUGH! Horrible thought, horrible thought! Stop thinking stop thinking __**stop thinking**__! ! ! !_

"Oh well, it doesn't matter," Pegasus interrupted his train of thought, opening his eyes much to Marik's dismay. But he didn't seem to notice the inner turmoil that Marik was feeling. Kind of odd for someone that could supposedly see into your mind. "Anyways," Pegasus continued, "I've become aware that tensions have risen between you and Otogi to the point of violence?"

Marik sighed, mostly in annoyance but partly in relief at the change in topic. "That's right," Marik said, anger clear in his voice, "but it's his fault – if he would just leave us alone…"

"Why don't you tell me what happened?" Pegasus said gently.

"Well…" Marik hesitated before launching into a tale about how Otogi just _wouldn't take a damn hint and leave them alone_. He told a tale _very_ similar to Bakura's, only when he mentioned Ryou he just said that Otogi was simply tormenting _him_, not _her_, and was just being a bully, for he had a hunch that the teachers thought he was a boy and that he wasn't registered in the school as a girl. Plus, he was fairly certain that Bakura had done the same thing. He didn't know why he thought that, he just did. He wasn't aware that Pegasus knew of Ryou's predicament, and Pegasus wasn't going to stop his tale to tell him that he _did_ know – not when he was finally talking to him without fear! This is what he always wanted – for the students to be able to tell him anything and everything without worrying what he would think. Besides, he didn't need another student asking him why he wasn't doing anything about the Ryou situation.

After Marik's side of the story was done (concluding with a kick to the groin instead of a kiss on the lips), Pegasus smiled. "Well, it sounds like you and your friends have had to deal with a lot lately. And how do you plan on dealing with it?"

Marik shrugged. "I don't know," since he really didn't know what the heck Bakura changed the plan to, "I'll think of something."

Pegasus smiled. "I already know how Bakura's dealing with it Marik, don't lie to me."

Marik sighed. "I didn't want to get in trouble."

"Oh you're not in trouble," Pegasus said as he stood up, "not unless you get caught."

Marik's eyes widened. "Didn't you already catch us though?"

"Oh, it's not like you've done anything _really_," Pegasus said with a wave of his hand, "though I'm not sure exactly what you and Bakura's plan entitles, I'm pretty sure it's… either very good or very bad, depending on how you look at it. And, since I am the only teacher aware of your plan at this point," he said as he walked towards the door, "I'll give you the same advice I gave Bakura. Be careful." Just like before, when Pegasus said, 'be careful,' it sounded more like 'be sneaky.' Marik smiled, stood up and walked through the door. "No problem," he answered, "I've been _careful_ all my life."

Pegasus nodded. "Good, if you hurry, you can catch the last ten minutes of your class."

"Will do," Marik said as he walked out. Pegasus watched him leave as well, smiling brilliantly, happy with how things were turning out. _Two down,_ he thought, _two to go_.

* * *

Just like Bakura, Marik didn't hurry back to his class either, he didn't really care about going back; he could get notes from Atem later. He was surprised though, he thought he was going to get in trouble, but it seemed like Pegasus was almost _supporting_ the plan that Bakura had thought up. Of course, now that Marik thought about it, it seemed as if Pegasus had never liked Otogi, at least that's what Marik got from how he reacted whenever he told him the latest thing Otogi had done. Pegasus had kept promising that Otogi would get punished eventually, but it had seemed as if it would never happen. Of course, that had started about a month earlier, about a few days before they had heard new students were coming in…

Marik stopped with a sudden realization. Did Pegasus _know_ that if Bakura came then this would happen…?

Bakura _must_ have a history at his old school for getting in trouble, or _causing_ trouble, and he must have had a lot of enemies and pranked people like Otogi before… and knowing Pegasus, he wanted to find out everything he could about him and these instances… Did he somehow _know_ that Otogi would annoy Bakura, and then he would take action? Is _that_ why nothing has been done about him by now? The more Marik thought about it, the more certain he became that Pegasus had _indeed_ let Otogi's acts continue because he knew they would soon be stopped by someone who doesn't care about rules and regulations…

Marik smiled, and was sort of happy now that the school hadn't punished Otogi. Bakura's brand of punishment was just as good, if not _better_ than anything the school could have thought up. As he walked down the hallway to his class, he couldn't help but have a huge grin on his face, eager to get whatever scheme Bakura had thought up underway, even if it involved something he'd rather not do. He soon had to force himself to stop grinning, however, when he came upon his classroom door. No one ever smiled when they returned from the guidance counselor, and he was not going to be the first. That _might_ be grounds for being out casted, but he wasn't sure since no one had done it. So, he took a deep breath and walked inside, a few heads turned and the teacher briefly nodded at him before continuing to write something on the board, which greatly angered Bakura who couldn't help but think, _Why did _everyone_ turn to look at me, and only a _few_ turned to look at him? And the teacher didn't call _him_ out._ But Marik was oblivious to the anger Bakura was feeling and hurried to write down all the writing that was on the board. He was distracted though when Ryou handed him a note. "What happened?" The note said almost urgently. Marik glanced at Ryou who still looked paler than usual, for he was _sure_ that they were in trouble and he felt bad about it since, technically, the blame could be placed upon him as to why they're in trouble. Marik wrote, "Nothing bad – don't worry" on the note as if he was still taking notes and passed it back. Ryou read it and sighed silently – would no one tell him what happened? Bakura had simply ignored or avoided the question on his notes. Ryou wrote, "If it wasn't bad, why won't you tell me what happened?"

"Because I just don't want to, okay? Maybe later," Marik wrote back. Ryou sighed again, but Marik just kept writing down the notes, not wanting to bother Atem if he didn't have to, and felt only slightly sorry that he wasn't telling Ryou what happened, though he was determined to make it up to him… somehow… His thoughts were interrupted when another folded note landed perfectly on his desk after flying over his head. He unfolded it, and inside where these words: "Stop passing notes to my sister you fruit loop." Marik chuckled – that should have been expected. Marik scrawled something on the note with a smirk and passed it back. He turned around to see the look on Bakura's face, which was a scowl accompanied with an eye twitch. He crumpled up the note and glared at the Egyptian, to which Marik stuck his tongue out at the almost-albino. For on the note said, "He just asked me out, I simply accepted Mr. Overprotective-with-brother-complex." Ryou watched this all with a smile, finding this amusing, especially when Bakura's eye twitched like that – it always looked so funny when that happened. He almost wished he knew what the notes said… _Ah well, let them have their secrets_, he thought just as Bakura started doodling on his notebook, purposefully ignoring everyone.

Since Bakura was now ignoring him, Marik turned back to his notebook, but before he could write anything down the word 'perfect' entered his mind and heat crawled up the back of his neck. He felt like slamming his head on the desk out of unbelief and frustration at his stupid body's reactions, but he didn't want to create a scene, so he just put his elbow on the desk and rested his head in his hand – now _his_ eye was starting to twitch. Just great.

* * *

Soon it was lunchtime, and Ryou was pestering Bakura at their lunch table to tell him what happened with Pegasus. "You say it's not important," he said, "but if it wasn't important you would _tell me_ what happened!"

"Just be happy that I'm not in trouble! _I_ certainly am!" Bakura smirked, "But if you must know _something_, I tell you that it seems as if Pegasus supports my plan for revenge."

"Really?" Ryou said with surprise, "You mean he _knows_ you're planning something? He must not have looked at your past school records…"

Bakura shrugged. "Who cares! I'm off the hook! Pegasus pretty much told me I could do anything I wanted."

"Really?" Marik said as he sat down at the table next to Ryou with sushi and rice, "me too. I think he might have _planned_ on you taking action against Otogi."

"Why do you think that?" Atem asked.

"Think about it. I'm sure a few, if not a lot of people have complained about Otogi, and the school hasn't done anything. But when we heard that new students were coming in, Pegasus told me that 'actions would be taken soon,' so I think he _knew_ you would do _something_."

"You really think Pegasus would think that far ahead?" Yugi asked.

"Why not?" Jounouchi said while picking at his food, "he's certainly creepy enough."

A grin slowly made its way across Bakura's face. "Finally! My genius is recognized. Though I don't know why you all say he's creepy, he's a fine fellow. A little _weird_ perhaps, but not _creepy_."

"Isn't it creepy that he knows almost _everything _that goes on around here?" Honda asked.

"He probably has spies or something," Bakura reasoned.

"That's even creepier," Amora said with a frown.

Bakura was about to say something when Kana-chan appeared and dropped a red bento with cherry blossoms on it in front of Ryou. "Here you go! One lunch – from that bet thing, remember?"

Ryou smiled at her. "Thanks Kana-chan! I'm sure it will be good."

"It better!" she said as she sat down next to Atem, "Cooking is my life."

Ryou laughed and opened the lunchbox. Inside was fried shrimp, broccoli with rice, two sushi rolls, and a dessert bun. It all looked mouthwatering, and he was sure that it tasted excellent as well. "Wow!" Ryou said, "This looks really good!" He stuck some fried shrimp in his mouth and sighed contentedly. "This is heaven…" The gang laughed at Ryou's cuteness, and he just smiled back at them. _This_ was how school should _always_ be.

"Weren't you going to go get something from Otogi's locker?" Marik asked Bakura once everyone started mini side-table conversations.

"Are you kidding? I'm not letting Ryou out of my sight until our plan is over," he smirked and put his arm around Ryou, "I don't want her to get hurt anymore."

Ryou smiled at him weakly. "Thanks Bakura, but you know I think Marik could handle it."

Bakura growled. "Like hell I'm letting _him_ protect you."

Marik started coughing, but it was obvious that was just to cover up the word, "Over-protective." Bakura glared at him and was about to say something when Anzu said, "Pegasus alert!" For the second time that day, everyone just started talking about random things, Marik asked Ryou questions about the class time he missed and Bakura pretended to pay attention. Everyone else had already been in separate side conversations anyways, so they didn't have to change topic much or at all. Soon Pegasus showed up, and the first thing he said was, "Hello Marik! Bakura! How are your plans coming along?"

"Fine," Bakura replied hastily before Marik could say anything in a voice that clearly said "Stop asking about it."

Pegasus smiled and nodded. "Wonderful! And how is Ryou doing this fine day?"

"Um… I'm doing fine," Ryou answered back honestly. After all, Otogi hadn't bothered him all day.

"That's good," at this moment, Pegasus noticed the bento Ryou had in front of him. He pointed to it, "Did you make that yourself?" he asked, astonished.

"No," Ryou answered, "Kana-chan did."

"Really?" Pegasus said smiling, he looked over at her, "It looks delicious Kana-chan! I heard that you were an excellent cook, but I had never seen any of your creations before," he turned to Ryou, "if you don't mind, could I try some?"

"Sure," Ryou said handing him the lunchbox. Pegasus picked up a fried shrimp and ate it, savoring every bite. "Delicious!" he said when he was done, "Keep up the good work Kana-girl," he said the English word for 'girl.' Kana-chan beamed with pride, if an _American_ liked her food then it _must_ be good. Pegasus clapped a hand on Ryou's shoulder, "Would you care to join me for lunch?" he asked.

"Um…" Ryou said, glancing at his friends who looked surprised and/or worried, "Sure…" he said as he stood up, grabbing his bento. Pegasus put his arm around his shoulder and walked off – from the back, Ryou looked like a nervous schoolgirl with her hands holding the lunchbox tightly in front of her and bowing her head slightly with Pegasus' arm around 'her.' The only thing that could have made the look more believable was if Ryou had been wearing a skirt. He just wondered what he had done wrong, unless Pegasus knew about the girl's plans as well…?

Ryou almost stopped cold when he realized that this was most likely about his little gender-switching act. His skin turned ashen, and he was certain he was going to get expelled – certainly this was a huge offense…? He would have to find a new school – _again!_ He didn't want another school! He liked this one! The people here were all really nice (except for a few exceptions) and it even seemed like Bakura was being more open here, at least with Marik… Well, if he _did_ get expelled, Bakura could still stay here… right? But he wouldn't, he would want to go with the younger brother to protect him. A great pit of guilt appeared in Ryou's stomach, he didn't want Bakura to give up his sort-of-new-friend for him – that's selfish and unfair! Oh, why didn't he just tell the girls he was really a boy when he had the chance? Why, why, _**WHY! ! !**_ He would just have to beg Pegasus to stay here – that seemed the best option. Then he would take his punishment form Amora and the other girls and live as a social outcast the rest of his life… yes, that seemed the only option right now. But it would be worth it, to see Bakura become unattached from him and make more friends… Right? Right.

With that set in his mind, Ryou walked with Pegasus all the way to the guidance counselor's office, but his heart still hammered, sweat beaded on his forehead, and he was still as nervous as if he was being lead to the electric chair instead of the guidance counselor's office. One question entered his mind though – if he was in trouble, wouldn't he enter the principal's office? But that question left him once the door behind him closed and he was stuck in the supposed-to-be-calming room. Ryou couldn't help but notice that the blinds on the window were closed – why were they closed? ! "Please," Pegasus said, "sit anywhere you like." He himself took a seat in the same tall, red, cushioned chair that Bakura and Marik had seen him in, leg on top of the other, hands folded in his lap, smiling comfortingly, eyes closed, etc. Ryou nervously sat down in the same couch, swallowing since his mouth had suddenly become dry. He put his lunchbox on the table, seeing as that was the most likely thing Pegasus would ask of him next. They sat in silence and loss of motion for a while, and Ryou's appetite had disappeared, replaced with his stomach roiling with nerves. He waited anxiously for Pegasus to _say something_, and finally, he did speak.

"Ryou, _please_ don't look so nervous. You act like I'm condemning you to die or something."

"Sorry," he said automatically. He probably wouldn't have been able to say _anything_ if it wasn't automatic.

Pegasus sighed, unhappy with how tense this student was. Was it _really_ that scary talking to him? "Look, you're not in trouble you know," he said, only calming Ryou down slightly, "I'm just here to ask you how you're doing, anyone bothering you? Any bullies teasing or _harassing_ you?" He said 'harassing' in a way that meant he _knew_ that's what's been happening, so Ryou didn't try to deny it.

"Well… yes…" Ryou said nervously, "Otogi's been… bothering me lately."

Pegasus nodded. "I see, and do you have any suspicions as to why?"

Ryou's eyes swam with color. Oh, he didn't just have _suspicions_, he _knew_. He knew _exactly_ why Otogi was tormenting him – he thought he was a girl! And he was such a womanizer, so of _course_ he has to have the new girl in his grasp! But Bakura and Marik got in the way, so he had to up his game, and it seemed as if he would stop at _nothing_ to get 'her' on a date or something like it. But he couldn't tell Pegasus that! It seemed as if he didn't know he was pretending to be a girl, and if he didn't know that then he wouldn't be expelled! Ryou bit his lip, wondering what he should say and how much of it would be the truth when suddenly, he was fed up with lying all the time. He's done nothing but lie ever since he got here and he was _sick of it_. He wanted to just tell Pegasus everything – starting with the day he got lost while touring the school and how the girls immediately thought _he_ was a girl down to why Otogi was tormenting him and how no one knew he was a boy except for Bakura.

But how should he start?

That was what got Ryou and made him tongue-tied. He _tried_, to speak, but words just wouldn't come out. "You see…" he managed to say, "Um… Otogi thinks… that I'm a… girl…" he said 'girl' so quietly that he was surprised he _himself_ had heard it! But nonetheless, Pegasus had heard him, and he was silent for a very long time, making Ryou more and more nervous with each second he wouldn't speak. Then, he said, "Ryou, I understand."

Ryou was shocked. "You do?" he asked, completely astounded.

"Of course!" Pegasus said, "I may not be like you myself, but I understand that you think your body is a prison in which you're trapped to be a boy when you'd much rather be a girl."

Ryou's face turned red. _He thinks I'm a transvestite!_ He thought with disbelief. "Pegasus, you don't understand –"

"Oh I know you don't _think_ I do, and I guess I don't _really_ –"

"Not at all in fact…"

" – but I can understand you a little bit!"

"Pegasus, you don't get it – I don't _want_ to pretend to be a girl!"

"Oh I know, you'd rather just _be_ a girl, but don't worry about that. Modern technology can solve almost anything these days."

Ryou felt like he was going to die from heat stroke with the way this conversation was going. "No, Pegasus, it's all a misunderstanding –"

"And I'm sure it is! Shame on the person who made you a boy instead of a girl." Ryou felt so frustrated right now, _Why does everyone keep interrupting me all the time? !_ _Let me talk! _he thought with desperation. "Pegasus, listen to me, I'm _not_ a –"

"Do not fear little Ryou!" Pegasus said, "You don't have to hide who you are from me." At that point Ryou gave up. There was no convincing Pegasus of the truth anytime soon, the more he would try to deny and explain it the more Pegasus would be _sure_ he was transsexual and just didn't want him to know. "Like I said before," Pegasus continued, "your secret's safe with me, but you're lucky I'm the only one who knows so far. The other faculty… Frown upon differences. But I believe they make the world go round, so!" Pegasus said clapping his hands together, "I promise I won't tell anyone on _one_ condition!" Pegasus stood up and walked over to the sky-blue filing cabinet. He searched through the top drawer but soon slammed it, grumbling, "I always confuse the top with the bottom…" He searched the bottom one next, tore through it and said "Found it!" soon afterwards. He slammed the drawer with a bang and walked over to Ryou and handed him a flier. As Ryou took it, he couldn't help but notice that Pegasus had a wooden, green, picture frame in his other hand. He looked down on the flier, which said:

"Japarica High School  
proudly presents:  
'**Just Another Fairytale**'  
An original romance by  
_one of our own students!_

Sign up today!  
Now's your chance to shine!"

Below the text was a picture of a girl looking out of a balcony tower down at a prince or someone like that colored in black. Ryou looked up at Pegasus. "You want me to try out for the school play?" he asked. He found this harder to believe than the fact that Pegasus thought he was a transvestite.

"Why not?" Pegasus asked, "You _must_ be a good actor, considering your predicament. Besides, our plays could use some fresh talent, most of these kids are being made to try out by their moms or dads, and the few that _want_ parts are, no offense to them of course, stuck up little brats. Don't tell them I said that."

"Of course not sir…" Ryou was having a hard time figuring this guy out – did he like the students or not? It seemed like he wanted them all to talk to him openly, but then he's insulting them? It doesn't make any sense. Ryou's eyes lit up as he realized that Pegasus wanted him to try out for the school play. "I, I'm sorry, sir, but I don't think I can try out for this…"

"But why ever not?" Pegasus asked with disappointment.

"I'm not good at acting, or singing."

"This play doesn't require you to sing, and I'm sure you'll be a _fine_ actress with practice."

Ryou noted with dismay that he said act_ress_, not act_or_. He supposed it would have been a very nice, thoughtful effort if he actually _was_ a transvestite, but since he wasn't, it was kind of saddening. "I'll think about it Pegasus-san…" Ryou said with no intentions whatsoever on trying out. Great, more lies.

"Oh please, it's just Pegasus to you Ryou, no need to be so formal all the time." It was then that Ryou remembered the picture frame again. "What picture do you have in that frame?" Ryou asked, staring at it curiously.

"This?" Pegasus said holding it up, "oh, I just… Here," he handed him the frame. Inside was a picture of Pegasus in a "Prince Charming" outfit with a beautiful, blonde girl wearing a purple medieval-princess-style violet dress. She was sitting down on a royal chair, and Pegasus was behind her with both his hand on her shoulders. They both had happy smiles, and both were obviously madly in love. They couldn't have been more than twenty years old. "Is this…?" Ryou started.

"My wife – Cyndia," Pegasus finished, staring at the frame with a lost look in his eye. "I would put it on the table for display but," he smiled softly, "she was always a shy girl… she didn't like being on display. She was a kind soul…" a small tear came to Pegasus' eyes, making Ryou assume that something terrible happened to her. With a start, he realized what it must be. _Was always, didn't like_, those were all tenses you would use if someone was… dead…

He should know.

Ryou placed the picture gently back into Pegasus' hand, who wiped away his tear with the other one. "Anyways," Pegasus said as he stood up and walked over to the door, "I know you must be anxious to go back and eat with your friends, so I'll dismiss you. But don't think our conversation is over yet young lady!"

Ryou smiled weakly at the words 'young lady.' He stood up, grabbed his bento and walked towards the door. "Thank you Pegasus…" he said dismally. He walked out while putting the flier in his pocket, wishing that people would stop interrupting him so he could explain his situation properly, but that was never going to happen was it?

Pegasus watched him go just as he did with the first two students, thinking to himself, _Three down, one to go_.

* * *

While Ryou had been having his awkward talk with Pegasus, Bakura had been walking down an empty hallway. He was supposedly walking around aimlessly, when in actuality he was heading for locker number 069 because that's what Otogi's locker number was (according to Marik anyway). Soon he had come across it, and, after he saw which number the padlock pointed to (number zero), he had immediately went to work uncovering the tricky lock. Now, this has been said before, but it will be said again, he was not called the Thief _King_ for nothing, and in about a minute he had the locker wide open. He had looked inside, memorizing the way everything was so that he could put it back like it was when he was done. He couldn't help but notice that it was much cleaner and more organized than his… He should fix that later.

When he was sure he had it sufficiently etched into his brain, he had searched through a black folder to see if there were any ungraded or unfinished homework assignments. He noticed that every single assignment had a due date on the top… _Wow, obsessive much?_ he had thought, _oh look, one of them is due today, perfect_. He took that one, looking at Otogi's neat, almost-girly handwriting before folding it up and putting it in his pocket. He put the folder back where it was and then took his black-with-red-dice backpack off of the hook it had been hanging on. He had searched through each of the pockets separately before finding the MP3 player he was looking for in the smallest pocket. He put the backpack back on the hook again and was about to go back to lunch when he had noticed that there was something odd about his locker… But what was it? Bakura had looked at it, trying to figure out what was different about this locker than his (besides the fact that it was clean). Suddenly, he knew what it was. Now, a _normal_ person would not have been able to detect this, but Bakura noticed that the top of Otogi's locker was about two centimeters (or one inch) shorter than the average locker. Bakura had reached up and tapped the top of the metal locker lightly, finding that the top wasn't made of metal – it was just made of colored plastic. Bakura had placed his hand on top of it and tried sliding it out – it slid easily. He had taken the two-centimeter-tall plastic top out of the locker and looked inside. He had been frozen in place from what he had seen, he just couldn't believe his luck! An evil smile had worked its way across his face.

Inside the plastic top had been Otogi's journal.

* * *

When Ryou had come back to lunch, there were only a few minutes left and Bakura was back as well with a huge grin on his face. Ryou _would_ have asked what had Bakura in such a good mood, but his previous meeting with Pegasus made him sit down at the table and slam his head against it. "What's wrong?" Marik asked worriedly before Bakura could.

He turned his head, never losing contact with the table. "I don't want to talk about it…" he said. Bakura and Marik exchanged glances, everyone else just looked at 'her' worried. "Did Pegasus do something?" Atem asked.

"No… we just… talked," Ryou said mysteriously. He lifted his head up, "Oh, and he has a wife."

"WHAT?" everyone asked – clearly shocked.

"I don't buy that," Jounouchi said, "if he has a wife, how come we've never heard of her until now?"

"She died."

"… Oh…"

"How do you know?" Yugi asked.

"He showed me a picture of her."

"Was she pretty?" Honda asked.

"Very. She was blonde."

"How do you know she died?" Yugi asked.

"The way he talked… he kept using past tense when referring to her."

"What was her name?" Amora asked.

"Cyndia."

"I can't believe we're just finding this out now!" Kana-chan exclaimed, "You'd think if someone has a wife he'd _tell_ somebody!"

"Technically," Marik interrupted, "he _did_ tell somebody. He told Ryou."

"But why wouldn't he tell anyone else?" Anzu asked.

"Maybe he didn't trust any of you people," Bakura said while looking at his nails. He should really clean them later…

Everyone had gone silent at his words, however, and then Kana-chan said, "That may be…"

"He _did_ always complain how no one trusted _him_, so why would he tell us a secret like that?" Yugi said.

"Plus, it's probably very painful for him," Amora brought up.

"Yeah, you're right," Jounouchi said, "actually, now that I think about it, I can't believe that he _did_ tell someone."

As everyone talked about Pegasus' wife, Ryou nudged Bakura. "I need to talk to you," he whispered. Bakura nodded and got up to leave, but then the bell rang. Bakura swore under his breath, and whispered back, "We'll talk later."

Ryou nodded, wanting more than anything to just tell him what happened right there, but that just wasn't going to happen now was it? Of course not, fate was against him.

* * *

Before 'she' knew it, it was time for gym class. Ryou walked there with a frown, still remembering what Pegasus thinks of him and the flier in his pocket just a brief reminder of the lying promise he had made. He sighed. Why him?

"Are you okay Ryou?" some girl from the Girl's Club asked him.

Ryou nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine."

Her eyes turned sympathetic. "Is it your time of the month?" she asked quietly.

_Time of the month?_ Ryou thought, _What's that?_ "Um… yes…" he said, since it seemed this 'time of the month' thing was a valid excuse for how down he was acting. The girl nodded and walked away to go change, letting Ryou alone to walk to the bathroom to go change himself. "Hey Anai-chan," he said as soon as he came in – she was always there before him, though he wasn't sure how… She was in the stall however, so he could only hear her shy reply: "H-hello Ryou-chan!"

"Hey Anai," he asked as he walked into the stall next to hers, "if you're in the other class, why are you in our gym class?"

She was silent, then she said, "It's hard to explain," without wavering. That surprised Ryou, since it seemed like she was always so nervous whenever she talked to him. "A few kids… complained, so I take gym with your class."

Ryou was more confused by her last statement than by the 'time of the month' thing the other girl had referred to. "Complained about what?"

"Um… I don't like to talk about it…" she said, and Ryou had the distinct impression that she was holding back tears.

"I-I'm sorry!" Ryou stammered, feeling absolutely _horrible_ that he might have made her cry, "Forget I said anything, okay?"

"Th-thank you Ryou-chan," she said, back to her nervous self, "you're so k-kind to me…"

"Well, why wouldn't I be?" he asked as he took his shirt off and put his gym one on.

"I don't know…" Anai said before it went silent in the bathroom. Ryou was done changing before Anai, so he left to go to gym. Anai stayed in her stall, and then peeked out, her face was very red, and her eyes glistened with tears, but somehow there was a smile on her face that contrasted both sad attributes. "So kind…" she mumbled, "So kind…"

Ryou was tapped on his shoulder. "What did you need to talk to me about?" Bakura asked him.

Ryou looked around to see if anyone was nearby. They were, but they were either out of ear-shot or lost in their own conversations. Ryou motioned for him to come closer, so he leaned in, getting agitated that Ryou couldn't just say it. Ryou leaned in a whispered into Bakura's ear, "Pegasus thinks I'm a transvestite."

"_WHAT? !_" Bakura exclaimed, tearing his ear away from Ryou to look at him with utter disbelief, "Why would he…?" he started but never finished. He knew _exactly_ why Pegasus would assume that – hell, _anyone_ would!

Ryou looked at Bakura disconsolately, "He said he wouldn't tell anyone about my secret, but he also wants me to try out for the school play…"

Bakura folded his arms. "Well, that sounds like a good deal. I say you go for it." Ryou stared at his brother in alarm. "What?" Bakura asked.

"I-I can't act!" Ryou stammered.

"You've done pretty good this far," Bakura commented.

"Well, y-yeah, but… that's 'cause I _have_ to, I'm a _terrible_ actor in real life!"

"Ryou, you're pretending to be someone you're not every day. If that isn't the definition of an actor, I don't know what is."

Ryou was about to say something when the teacher said, "Okay class! We're playing more basketball today." Her statement was followed by Loud groans and a few cheers. She sighed. "I know most of you are sick of basketball right now, but suck it up!" She blew her whistle, "Get into teams of four! GO!" Bakura grabbed Ryou's hand and smirked. Ryou smiled back at him. Soon, they were on a team with Atem and Amora teamed up against Jounouchi, Marik, Anzu, and Mandai. Yugi, Honda, and Kana-chan formed their own team against some other, less important to this story people.

They played well, though as expected Bakura and Marik were having their own separate competition which consisted of stealing the ball from each other, making faces at each other, arguing, and basically every unsportsmanlike thing you could think of. Jounouchi and Amora were also having their own competition, but theirs was more of a "I'm getting more points than you, nyeh nyeh nyeh nyeh nyeh NYEH!" competition. Ryou laughed at the competition, since he usually didn't get the ball because of it.

Soon, gym was over, and the gym teacher was calling, "Good job kids! Go and change. Next week we'll do badminton!" Loud cheers accompanied with low groans were heard, causing the teacher to laugh and shake her head. "You're not pleased with basketball, you're not pleased with badminton. What _are_ you kids pleased with?"

"DODGE-BALL!" almost everyone yelled at her. The teacher took a step back – she had not been expecting that. She thought about the students' request, and then snapped her fingers with a smile. "I got it! How about we have a dodge-ball competition against the other class? Outside in the track field!"

"YEEEEEEAAAAAAHH! ! !" the students cheered. The teacher laughed. "All right, let me just figure out a day…" she walked off to her office, her thinking face on. She turned around suddenly to address the class once more, "Would you guys care if it was after school?" she asked.

"NO!" the class replied as one. The teacher laughed again. "Okay! Now I'll just have to float it by the other class and the principal and we've got ourselves a competition!"

The class cheered once again, and the teacher walked off, pleased that she was _finally_ getting the students interested in _something_.

The girls, and Ryou, walked to the girl's dressing room, and Anzu announced, "Attention all Girl's Club members! Remember, today we are going shopping at the mall, so change quickly!" Ryou smiled at Anzu's diligent leadership and walked inside the bathroom. "Hey Anai-chan," he called once again.  
"Hello…" came her small reply.

Anzu's reminder was not in vain, for in a matter of minutes, all the Girl's Club members were waiting in the locker room where their meetings were held. As soon as Anai joined them, Amora said, "All right! Time for operation "Otogi's going down" to commence!" The girls all cheered, and then they headed out to go shopping at the mall.

"Ready for your make-over Ryou?" Mandai asked.

"As ready as I'll ever be…" 'she' responded. Ryou stared ahead nervously, thinking up the plan they had devised in his head.

Step 1: Go shopping.  
Step 2: Have every girl flirt with him/ask him out.  
Step 3: Constantly stare at him – don't leave him alone. Make him think that we _actually_ like him and can stand him for more than a second.  
Step 4: Have every girl stand him up on the date causing depression, insecurity, and loss of pride.  
Step 5: Have Ryou ask him out.  
Step 6: Ryou the boy shows up _before_ the date (this step is really important).  
Step 7: Otogi never bothers Ryou or any of the girls again. (At least in the Girl's Club).

It was steps five and six that had him the most worried…

* * *

**This seemed like a good place to end this *evil smile.* I'm sorry their plans hadn't been carried out yet, but I **_**needed **_**to show why the school wasn't doing anything about the students – Pegasus wasn't letting them. Did you enjoy the chapter anyways? XD Lol, the next chapter will be up as soon as I can make it – I PROMISE! And then you can see what Bakura needed the MP3 player for :P **

**In later news, this was my last day of school! =D WOOHOO! SUMMER HERE I COME! ! ! **

**~~~{REVIEW REPLIES!}~~~**

**KittyKura**: Haha, thanks for reviewing! Glad you think it's awesome :3 And I'm sorry you didn't get to see what happened to Otogi in this chapter, next chapter you should though… should… XD And yeah, at some point, I'm going to do PsychoShipping ;) Glad you'll love it! =D


	8. Everything's Perfect!

**MUA HA HA HA HAAAAAA! *evil lightning crackles around me* I am back! With this mega-long chapter! (I would apologize for the length - but I'm not really sorry XD)**

**WARNING: There is a YGOTAS joke in here… please forgive me XD it was too good to pass up…**

**I think you guys will both hate me and love me after this stupidly long chapter…**

* * *

_Chapter 8: Everything's Perfect!_

"We're going to the mall!" Miho called out as she led the girls out of the locker room.

"Miho-chan," Anzu said, "it's not for fun, remember?"

"Anytime you go to the mall is fun!" Miho exclaimed.

"I just hate all that greasy mall food," Kana-chan complained.

"Nobody said you had to _eat_ any of it Kana-chan," Amora brought up.

"Still, it's horribly unhealthy. My food is _sooo_ much better."

As the girls continued talking about the mall (mainly agreeing with Kana-chan that her food was, in fact, the best, now please stop talking about it), Ryou lagged behind. He wasn't really looking forward to this mall trip, not at all… He almost thought about lagging behind enough and then just running in the other direction, but he didn't because then the girls would ask him why he ran away and he _really_ didn't want to have to come up with more lies… The lying must end, it must. Besides, someone else was lagging behind more than him - Anai. She had her head down so that her hair covered her eyes, and her hands gripped the backpack straps around her shoulders tightly. Today she was wearing a navy-blue skirt with a white T-shirt that had a pink bunny on it. Actually, Ryou realized with a jolt, she _always_ wore skirts, and they were usually navy blue. Huh, did she just not like pants? Ryou sighed, why was he thinking about this anyway…? People wore what they liked, end of story. He walked on in silence with the girls' talk barely registering in his ears until he got outside. He was about to strike up a conversation with Anai because he couldn't handle walking next to someone without at least _trying_ to talk to them when Bakura jumped down right in front of him. Ryou gave a little scream of surprise, and when he saw Bakura smirking he said, "Bakura! Where did you…?"

"Come from?" Bakura finished for him, "That tree over there," he said as he pointed to a tree hanging over the school's front entrance.

"Are you _trying_ to scare me to death?"

"Of course not! I just wanted to give you a little surprise is all," his smirk grew right before he put Ryou in a headlock and started messing with his hair. "Have fun at the _mall_ little sis!" he said happily.

Ryou got out of the headlock and started straightening his hair. He stared at his brother disdainfully. "You're enjoying this, aren't you?"

"Why wouldn't I be?"

Ryou smiled a little mischievously and said, "Well, you have fun with Marik!"

Bakura glared at him. "And you're enjoying _that_, aren't you?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" Ryou copied his brother's line before running to catch up with the girls. Anai had frozen when Ryou had been stopped and stared at Bakura as he watched Ryou run along. He had a small smile on his face that Anai couldn't help but notice looked uncharacteristically… kind… She hadn't known Bakura that much, but she usually saw him with a very _mean_ or _mischievous_ look on his face, so the kind smile was nice. He almost looked like Ryou…

A shiver went up Anai's spine once Bakura caught her staring though. Bakura raised an eyebrow and pointed to the girls disappearing into the horizon. "Shouldn't you be with them?" he asked curtly.

Anai gave a startled jolt and said, "R-right…" before running off. Bakura rolled his eyes. _Man I hate it when girls stare at me…_ he thought as he watched her run along with narrow eyes. He looked back at the entrance and, seeing that no one was coming, climbed back up the tree to give Marik a scare once he decided to _stop taking his damn time and came outside!_

~!~!~

As Bakura was setting up to scare Marik (and maybe even some more, innocent, passers-by), Ryou had caught up with the girls, though he still lagged behind since he still didn't want to go to the mall. He sighed, wishing he had just refused to go along with this plan. After all, Bakura already _had_ a plan, wasn't two plans pushing it? But Amora just seemed so enthusiastic about having the girls teach Otogi a lesson… How could he refuse her?

He soon heard hurried footsteps behind him so he turned around. Of course, it was just Anai, who had caught up to Ryou finally. They looked at each other for a few seconds before Anai blushed and looked down again. Ryou smiled amusedly, this reminded him of something… but of what? He couldn't place it. "We should get walking unless we want to lose the others," Ryou said, pointing at the girls who were already a fair distance away from them.

"R-right…" Anai said. They started walking, but Anai still lagged behind Ryou a bit, as if afraid to get too close.

"Why don't we walk together?" Ryou asked, being friendly.

Anai blushed more, but agreed, "Okay…" She hurried next to him so that they were now walking next to each other, and Ryou found himself looking at her curiously.

Why was she so shy around him? Was she _really_ just this shy? Or was it just towards him? And why? He wasn't a scary person… he didn't think so anyway. Did she just not like him? Why not? Ryou debated what to say to Anai before asking, "Do you like me?"

She looked at him terrified, her eyes wide, her face pale, her mouth agape. It was as if someone had just found out a terrible secret about her or something else equally terrible. "Wh-wh-what? !" her voice sounded hysterical, making Ryou wonder what he had said to make her this way.

"Um… it's just that you're always so shy around me, so I thought you didn't like me…" Ryou explained awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck.

Anai blinked a few times, before this relieved expression took over her face. She smiled a huge smile, putting away her shyness temporarily. Ryou couldn't help but notice that her smile was _beautiful_, he didn't think he had seen her smile yet. "No! No, I like you, you're really nice…" she said before her shyness returned, along with a little blush, and her smile toned down, "I just… have a hard time talking to new people… I still have a hard time talking to some of the girl's members!"

Ryou laughed. "Okay, I'm glad…" he smiled encouragingly, "You should smile more, you have a beautiful smile."

Her face went up in flames. "O-okay…" she said happily, "I'll try and sm-smile more…"

"Hey you two!" a Girl's member called, "Hurry up! Do you _want_ to get left behind?"

_Yes!_ Ryou screamed in his head, but instead he yelled back, "Coming!" He looked at Anai, "Come on, we better run!" he said before grabbing her hand and running off.

For Ryou, it was perfectly natural for him to grab her hand and run off. He was a very friendly person who did not mind holding anyone's hand for any reason - boy or girl's. It was also perfectly natural for him to hug _anyone_ if something happy or sad happened, he didn't think about other worries like most students do, and he didn't think anything 'romantic' or otherwise about it. It was just a way to show sympathy, support, encouragement, etcetera and he was used to doing it. But to Anai… her poor face was sent another heat wave and her heart started beating rapidly. She looked at Ryou while she was running and couldn't help but think about how 'she' thought she didn't like 'her!' She promised herself that she wouldn't be so shy around Ryou anymore so that 'she' _never_ thought she didn't like 'her' ever again!

But this was going to be a _very_ difficult task…

"Geez, you walk slow yet you run fast?" the same Girl's Club member complained as they caught up, "Do us all a favor and go in the middle!"

Ryou laughed, "All right, sorry." He let go of Anai's hand and rubbed the back of his head, and though he didn't know it this looked positively cute, especially with his eyes closed and that adorable, apologetic smile of his on his face. It was so cute that any girl who had been even just a _little_ mad or annoyed at 'her' immediately forgave 'her.' Amora put her arm around Ryou, "It's all right girl," she said, being the voice for the Girl's Club yet again, "but just walk a little faster. I mean, without you the plan can't really commence."

Ryou laughed nervously. "R… Right…" he said. It was then that he noticed a member was missing. "Hey," he started, "Where's Mai?"

Amora smiled mischievously, "Oh, Mai-san? She volunteered to be the first to carry out step one of our plan."

"Oh…" Ryou kept walking ahead, and little did he know, Amora turned around and raised a knowing eyebrow at Anai with a smug smile. Anai caught her look and blushed, holding her hands behind her back and looking down again.

* * *

"Now Jounouchi," Mai said as she walked briskly down the deserted halls, "I have _only _allowed you to come because of your constant insisting, so do not, and I repeat, _do __**not**_, blow my cover or show up and yell at Otogi, understood?"

"But -"

"_Is that understood Jounouchi?_" Mai snapped on him, turning on her heels and glaring at him.

Jounouchi crossed his arms. "I won't interrupt because _I_ don't want to."

Mai rolled her eyes. "Such a man Jounouchi… and that's _not_ a compliment." She started walking again, with Jounouchi following glumly behind. He still didn't like what Mai "had" to do, and so he wanted to come with. Mai noticed how down he was, so she sighed and turned around. "Look, how about after this we go out and see a movie?"

Jounouchi stuck his chin up to act tough (though inside he was thinking, "Yes!") and said, "You're just saying that to make me okay with… _this_."

"Is it working?" Mai asked, giving a sexy pose and gently stroking Jounouchi's chin. He stared into her eyes and _tried_ not to give in, but after looking into her hypnotizing, violet eyes, he ended up saying, "… A little…" Mai chuckled and kissed him on the cheek, causing him to smile.

"We're almost at his locker," Mai said, getting serious again, "so _stay out of sight_."

"All right! Geez…" Mai smiled and walked down the rest of the hallway. She turned the corner and saw all of Otogi's gang and the king of sexism himself standing around by their lockers, laughing at something (most likely inappropriate). Mai took a second to compose herself and gave a convincing flirty smile complete with wandering eyes before walking over. All the boys stopped laughing and chattering when they heard her high-heeled shoes reverberate through the hall. They all looked at her curiously, except for Otogi who raised a confused eyebrow - wasn't she with Jounouchi now? What was she doing here?

Mai stopped right in front of Otogi, who was leaning against his locker with his arms crossed like he owned the whole school, and looked him up and down. One arm was akimbo while the other played with the sides of her hair idly. "Hey Otogi," she said flirtatiously, "I was wondering if we… could have a talk, _privately?_" She pronounced the last word by putting her face closer to his. To her surprise (but also her happiness) he had the decency to look confused and surprised at the way she was acting. He looked at his crew and said, "You heard the lady, why don't you all go home?"

They all stood up straight (since they had been leaning against the walls) and started leaving, calling, "See you later Otogi" or "see you tomorrow," and one person said, "Have a good _talk_ Otogi!" Mai felt like turning around and kicking whoever said that straight in the… well, you can finish that sentence. But she held her composure and waved at the boys who passed, then she turned back to Otogi, batting her eyelashes playfully.

Otogi looked almost suspicious now, but the key word there was _almost_. "I don't know why you want to talk to me," he said, "so just go out and say… whatever it is you want to say."

"Oh Otogi," Mai said, putting her hand just below her neck, "you can't just expect a girl to say what's on her mind right away, you have to talk to her kindly first."

Otogi raised an eyebrow and smiled. "All right then," he said, standing up straight and moving his face closer to hers, "what does such a pretty face want with a guy like me?"

She smiled and started playing with _his_ hair. "I was just wondering… are you free tomorrow night?"

Otogi froze and stared at her. Was she… asking _him_ out on a date? What about her supposed boyfriend? "Aren't you with… Jounouchi?" he asked curiously, his face showing confusion.

She chuckled cruelly, knowing that she would have to answer for (or pay for) what she would say next. "Jounouchi?" she asked, as if the very _idea_ of her dating someone like that was absurd, "As if! That's just a bit of fun, surely _you_ of all people understand that…?"

Otogi smiled smugly. "I guess…" but he still didn't look convinced. She wasn't surprised, Amora had been going around spreading rumors about her… _crush_ for years, he probably wasn't convinced that Jounouchi was just "a little bit of fun."

"Besides," she continued the act, knowing full well that Jounouchi was listening to every word, "no offense, but he's just a little freshman _boy_," she knew _that_ one was a stab to his pride, "I mean, he's good for laughs and all, but a _woman_ like me needs a _man_, not a little _boy_ who acts tough all the time," she stroked Otogi's chin and put her face dangerously close to his. How was she able to do this so convincingly? Let's just say, she knew how to get what she wanted. "Oh, he may think he's a man, but _anyone_ can see he's just a wannabe, not like _you_, right Otogi? You're a full-fledged _man_, one that I'd _love_ to get to know better," she had purred the word _love_, sending pleasurable shivers down Otogi's spine. Possibly the hottest senior in the school - no, the _world_ - wanted _him!_ This was a great and happy moment… and best of all, he was stealing her from Jounouchi! That'll teach him to leave his group. "Well," he said, being the smooth-talker he was known to be, "I suppose a _gentle_man like me can't refuse a _woman_ now can I?"

_**Gentle**__man?_ Mai thought, _Oh, _I'll_ give you something to be gentle about… _She smiled, hiding her thoughts. "Great, we'll meat at Dinner For Two tonight at seven." Dinner For Two was one of the most well-known, high-end, hot-spots for couples. Mai wanted to take him _there?_ "Be sure to wear something formal," her smile turned more flirtatious, "but not _too_ formal - wouldn't want you to cover up too much of that body you have." With that, she walked off, leaving Otogi to wonder, _What just happened?_ Or more accurately, _Did that just happen? ! _

Mai walked back the way she came, already imagining the look on Jounouchi's face… the sight broker her heart. When she _did_ turn the corner and saw him for real, his head was down so that his bangs covered his eyes. All she could see was the frown on his face, and she noticed that his fists were clenched and shaking. "Boy?" he whispered, staying true to his word and not blowing her cover, "Is that what you think of me?"

"Jounouchi," Mai said consolingly, but then she turned back to Otogi, "let's talk somewhere else…"

Jounouchi clenched his jaw and nodded, but inside he was filled with rage: _**boy?-?-?**_

Soon, they made it outside, but Jounouchi kept his back to her. Mai opened her mouth to say something, when she got mad. Did he _honestly_ think she had meant what she said? Was he _that_ insecure that he didn't stop to think, "She's just putting on an act - she doesn't _really_ think that"? "You are such an idiot Jounouchi!" she yelled at him.

Jounouchi tensed up and turned around, his face showing obvious anger. "What?" he asked.

"Oh come on!" she said, bringing her hands up outraged, "I'm _your_ girlfriend, don't you believe that? Don't you _trust_ me? You know I hate him! I just said what I said so _he_ would believe that I actually liked him! If you couldn't see that then you're in _idiot!_"

Jounouchi blinked at her, his anger had ebbed away during her mini-speech. He opened his mouth to say something, but just then Mai continued, "I mean, I already _knew_ you weren't the brightest in the bunch -"

"Hey!" Jounouchi complained. What was with everyone commenting on him being dumb? It's not like he had flunked out of any of his classes!

"- but if you would think for even a _second_ that I think Otogi is a "_man_" then you're even more of an idiot than I already thought you were!"

"I'm not an idiot!" Jounouchi yelled - his anger returned. "And it's not _you_ I don't trust, it's _him!_ And I…" he stopped talking here and looked away, as if embarrassed.

Mai caught on to this and blinked at him. "And you what?" she encouraged, "You can tell me, I won't laugh or anything."

A light blush came to Jounouchi's face, "It's just that… a lot of people told me that you're out of my league, and I know they're right," he looked into Mai's face now, getting past his embarrassment now that he had admitted that, "I mean, you're pretty, you're smart, you've got a great sense of humor… you have _everything_ going for you, and me? I've got nothing going for me!

"It's true, I'm not the smartest, but I'm not the _dumbest_ either, the only thing I'm good at is fighting…" he paused here, but then continued, "Everyone wonders, "What does she see in him?" and sometimes… I wonder that too…

"So when you said that stuff back there I just…" he stopped talking and looked down again, clenching his fists.

Mai blinked at him. Never had she known Jounouchi to be so… sensitive. He was worried that he wasn't good enough for her? She found herself smiling, that's so sweet! She walked closer and put a hand on his shoulder. "Jounouchi… you have a lot going for you," she said, "you have wonderful friends, you're funny, you're _honest_, which is a rarity nowadays… You'd do anything you can to help someone in need, you're kind and caring… so what if you're not the brightest? Not everyone's meant to be smart, some are meant to be… strong _men_."

Jounouchi's face was blank, making it hard for Mai to tell what he was thinking. She continued talking. "Before I met you, all I did was look out for myself," she admitted. That was the first time she had actually told anyone (even herself) of how she had been. "I was certain that no one else was going to look out for me like I would, so I distanced myself from any and all 'friends.' " she smiled. "I remember the first day I saw you, in seventh grade, remember? That was when you were with Otogi's gang…"

~!~!~

_Tenth-grade Mai was walking down the hall alone, holding her backpack in one hand because her shoulder hurt since someone hit her with a dodge-ball there. "Stupid game…" she mumbled, at least she had hit him in the face in return - even if she did have to sit out. _

"_Leave us alone!" a young boy's voice rang through the air. Mai stopped and turned towards the sound, it was coming right behind the corner… She walked over and peeked behind it. _

_She saw Yugi and Atem side-by-side, both glaring at Jounouchi and another goon who was with Otogi - Honda. "Give that back Jounouchi-san!" Atem commanded. _

"_Why should I?" Jounouchi said with a sneer. It was then that Mai noticed he was holding what appeared to be a trading card. "It's not like it's yours! It's your pathetic brother's, why doesn't _he_ tell me to give it back?"_

"_Because I hate fighting and violence!" Yugi yelled at him._

"_How can you hate fighting and violence…?" Honda asked no one in particular. _

_Jounouchi scoffed. "You're such a wimp Yugi! Stand up to me! Demand to get your stupid card back! Try with all your might to get it! At this rate I could just rip this stupid thing up and you wouldn't do a thing! It would be your brother who would stand up to me, not you. Be a man!" _

"_Just give it back!" Yugi yelled. _

_Jounouchi put his hands on his hips, the card getting bent with his hands. "And what happens if I don't? Will you hurt me? Of course not! And you'll tell your brother not to hurt me either! So why should I listen to you? Besides," he smiled mischievously, "someone wants this _dumb_ card of yours, so I'm going to give it to him." Honda just snickered behind him. _

_At the time, Mai had no idea who would want a stupid trading card, but she _did_ know that she should put a stop to this. However, before she was about to yell at them, Anzu showed up. She took the card form his hand and glared at him. "If you think it's so dumb," she began, "then give it back to Yugi! Picking on someone just because you know they won't fight back… you're the dumb ones!"_

"_Why you," Honda started, but Jounouchi held him back. _

"_We're not supposed to mess with her remember?" he said, "Let's just go. But we won't forget you Mazaki!" With that they walked off. Mai watched with astonishment - why had they left when that girl showed up?_

_Anzu sighed and turned to Yugi with a smile. "You all right Yugi?"_

"_Yeah, it's not like they hurt me or anything." He took the card back from Anzu, and Atem looked at Yugi. "You need to defend yourself Yugi," he said in that serious voice of his, "you can't let people walk all over you like that…"_

_Yugi sighed. "I know…" Mai tuned out the rest of what was being said, and she looked over at the two people retreating the group. She decided to follow them, just to see what they would do now. _

_So she followed them secretly, and eventually they came to the place known as, "Otogi's Hallway," at least after school. He and his other 'friends' were there, and Jounouchi and Honda walked right up to him. "Did you get the card?" Otogi asked. _

"_Nope," Jounouchi said, putting his hands behind his head with a blank look on his face. "Mazaki showed up at the last second, and you told us not to mess with her, remember?"_

_Otogi smiled a little evilly, in Mai's opinion. "That's right, she's one of the few I haven't gotten to yet…" Mai hadn't understood these words at first, _What does he mean?_ she thought. _

_Jounouchi scratched his neck. "Hey Otogi," he said, "do we have to pick on Yugi so much? It's not like he's _done_ anything to us."_

"_Don't question me Jounouchi," Otogi said._

_Jounouchi crossed his arms. "I think he'd be a good addition… if he acted more manly." _

"_Oh, and I'll suppose _you'll_ teach him how to be manly?" Otogi asked mockingly._

_Jounouchi scowled. "Why not me?"_

_Otogi laughed. "Never mind Jounouchi. We should start heading home though." And so they dispersed, leaving Mai to hide from them in an empty classroom. Since she was in the high school side of the building, she didn't know what went on in the junior high side, so she had no idea who Otogi was at this time and she had no idea who these other people were either or what was going on. From her point of view, it seemed that Otogi was the leader of some gang or something… and it seemed like Jounouchi was the muscle. But… Jounouchi seemed _different_ from the others somehow… like he didn't really like any of them. It sort of seemed like he only cared about himself too… Mai pushed these thoughts aside since they didn't really concern her and walked out of school and to her home. _

_Then, about a month later, Mai saw Jounouchi again, though he looked much different than before. For one thing, he and Honda were now hanging out with Yugi, Atem, and Anzu as _friends_. Mai had to stop and blink at that for a few seconds - weren't they enemies…? She followed them again, curiously, hoping to find out what had happened to change them. However, she didn't find out anything except for the fact that now Jounouchi wasn't the tough guy out for number one anymore, now he was with friends whom he actually liked and he seemed… happier. He was happier with others than by himself? That's weird, how could he like them so much? Especially since he had been bullying the smallest a month ago. But the more she watched, the more she had the impression that Jounouchi really liked these new people, that he was happier with them, and that he would be wiling to do… well, _anything_ for them, but that was ridiculous, wasn't it? You were better off by yourself._

_After everyone else left for home and Jounouchi was at his locker, Mai walked up to him. "Hey," she said, "Jounouchi… right?" she asked. _

_Jounouchi looked at her from behind his locker door and blinked. He smiled at her, obviously thinking she was very pretty and said. "That's right, and you are…?"_

"_Kujaku Mai. I was just wondering…" she hesitated, trying to decide how to ask what she wanted to find out, "Weren't you… bullying those people you were with earlier?"_

_His smile dropped and his grip tightened on his locker door. "I used to bully one of them," he said seriously, "but that was before I realized how big of a jerk I had been. Now they're my friends."_

_Mai looked at him, and then said, "You know something kid? You're better off by yourself." Then she walked away, now that she knew what she wanted to know. But Jounouchi spoke again, "You're wrong Kujaku-san," he said, making Mai stop, her back still turned to him. "You need friends to help you through difficult times, there are some things you can't do alone."_

_Mai was silent for a few seconds, taking what he said in. She turned around and smiled at him. "Such wise talk for such a small boy," she said, her smile now mocking, "but it's wrong. In the end, no one will look out for you like yourself, so you can't trust anyone but yourself."_

_Jounouchi narrowed his eyes. "It's you who's wrong Mai."_

_Mai made a scoffing noise and left him. _What does he know? He's just a little kid_, she thought. But his words made her question herself… _"There are some things you can't do alone."_ But she could still try, right? Of course right._

_But that hadn't been the end of it, oh no. _

_She saw him occasionally, and each time he was either laughing or looking annoyed at his friends. Sometimes, someone picked on Yugi and he told them to back off, which they did immediately, but Mai still couldn't understand why he was so happy with them, and supported them. You can't count on friends, the only one you can count on is yourself, no matter what he thought. _

_She had thought Jounouchi was an idiot back then, a too-trusting fool who would end up being hurt by his 'friends' someday. Even if they _did_ look out for you, if you rely too much on your friends, then you won't be able to do anything for yourself._

_But then one day, she overheard them talking about "the power of friendship" and how it could solve anything. And as she listened to them talking about how friends were always there… she began to wonder if her "only looking out for herself" attitude was right, or if she had been wrong all this time. She began to think that… maybe Jounouchi was right. _

_After a while, she began to admire his honesty, his complete faithfulness to his friends, even though she herself didn't have someone whom she called 'friend.' And then… I guess that was when she developed a small crush on him, and a week later is when she met Amora. The young girl smiled at Mai and said, "Hey, what's your opinion on Jounouchi Katsuya?"_

_Mai blinked at her for asking such an out-of-the-blue question, especially since she didn't know her that well, but she answered, "He's a good person, why?"_

_She smiled. "Oh no reason. Hey, I'm thinking of starting a club, and I was wondering if you'd like to join."_

"_What kind of club?" Mai asked. _

_Amora smiled. "I think I'll call it, "The Independent Women Club." It's basically just a place where girl's can hang out, meet new people, make friends, talk about our problems… what do you think?"_

"_Um… The title's a little wordy…"_

_Amora scratched the back of her head, "Well… How about "The Girl's Club" then?"_

_Mai thought about it. It seemed like a good club, and maybe it was time for her to see if friends were a good thing or not. Maybe it was time to see who was right - her, or Jounouchi. "Okay," she said, "I'll join your club." _

_It was those words that changed her life._

_Once Amora had the club started - with only a few girls at first, Anzu being one of them - Mai had been a supervisor, being a high school student. Most clubs need adult supervision, but the teachers trusted Mai and so she was allowed to be their supervisor. She did make friends there, and she witnessed first-hand why someone would be willing to do anything for them. They _did_ look out for you, and they _did_ care for you, as long as you returned the favor, which Mai found herself doing. After about another month, Mai was now even more popular than she had been because now she had friends, people to talk to and to help her and people whom she could help in return. She finally realized for herself that there _were_, in fact, some things that you just couldn't do on your own, and whenever she thought about it, she had Jounouchi to thank for her new social life. Without him suddenly changing form being a bully to being friendly (albeit loud and a little kiddish) and saying those things to her, she wouldn't have found out about the 'power of friendship' and she wouldn't have these good friends. _

_Because of how she felt about this, one time, one she passed him in the hall, she turned to him and said, "Thank you."_

_Jounouchi looked at her confused. "For what?"_

_She smiled flirtatiously and gave him a wink, "For being yourself." She walked away after that, leaving Jounouchi to wonder what she was talking about. She talked to him occasionally then, whenever she passed him on her way to anywhere. But then people started commenting on how she seemed to like Jounouchi (it was around then that Amora was telling everybody how they were so obviously "_In love!_"), so she stopped doing this. She still watched him from afar though, and little did she know that he liked her too. _

~!~!~

"So that's why you thanked me that one day…" Jounouchi said as Mai finished her tale.

Mai smiled. "Yes, I never did find out what made you change from being a bully to being Yugi's friend."

Jounouchi smiled cheekily and rubbed the back of his head. "Oh, that? I had gotten my but kicked by some high schooler… and Yugi had been there and made sure I was all right. When I asked him why he did that, he said it was because we were friends…

"I had thought the kid was nuts at first, but after a while… I began to realize just how much of a jerk Otogi was and how Yugi was a much better person than him, so I hung out with him and his friends instead."

"Oh," Mai said, but then smiled amusedly, "you were beaten up?"

Jounouchi's eye twitched. "He was twice the size of me!"

Mai laughed at him. "Whatever. Anyways, let's go see that movie now!"

"Sure!" They walked on for a little bit, but then Jounouchi asked, "So you _really_ didn't mean any of that stuff you said to Otogi?"

Mai looked at him. "How about this, imagine I had been talking to you, and replace the word "Jounouchi" with "Otogi" and vice versa. Then yes, I meant _everything _I said."

Jounouchi smiled at her. "Okay. You know, it was after you thanked me and just started randomly talking to me that I… began to like you. But I didn't think you felt the same…"

Mai smiled. "Well, everything worked out in the end, right?"

Jounouchi smiled. "Right! Thanks to Amora…"

Mai sighed. "Right, thanks to Amora…"

* * *

"All I'm saying is that no _sane person_ would haul themselves up in a tree for ten minutes just to scare someone!" Marik yelled at Bakura as they walked to his house.

"And all _I'm_ saying is that you shouldn't have spent so much time inside!" Bakura smirked, "And that you scream like a girl."

"I do not! I didn't even scream that long, it was just a surprised yell!"

"A _girly-sounding_ surprised yell."

"You are _impossible!_" Marik shouted. Bakura just laughed at him. "Besides, I was only inside so long because Pegasus wanted to talk to me about something."

Bakura raised an eyebrow. "About what?"

Marik reached into his pocket and handed him a flyer for the school play. "This, he wants me to audition."

Bakura stared at it. This was the same flyer Pegasus had given to Ryou… was this just coincidence? Or was Pegasus planning something…? He seemed to know a lot about the students, did he know that Marik liked Ryou a little? Or did he just think Marik would be a good actor and wants him to audition because of his talents? Either way, he _couldn't_ allow Marik to try out - Bakura knew Ryou, and he would eventually audition because someone had asked him too. If Marik tried out too, then they would be able to spend more time together… and that was _not_ good. He handed the flier back to Marik. "I don't think you should."

"I know, I'm not. I might as well just scream, "I'm gay!" from the rooftops if I try out."

Bakura chuckled. "Although, it wouldn't surprise anyone you know."

Marik sighed. "And that's the worst part…"

They walked on in silence for a little bit before Bakura said, "What if Otogi auditioned?"

Marik scoffed. "Everyone would think he was doing it to meet new girls."

"See, _that's_ stupid."

"I know!"

They talked about the unfairness of how everyone treated Otogi different than a gay man simply because he had a different girlfriend every other week. How else could he get away with wearing jewelry and eyeliner when Marik did the exact same thing? It was completely idiotic!

Soon they ran out of things to say though and walked part of the way to Bakura's house in silence. Of course then Bakura decided to tell Marik the latest news: "You want to know what Pegasus thinks about Ryou?"

Marik's eyes widened. "Does he knew Ryou's pretending to be a girl?"

Bakura smirked. "Something like that… he thinks Ryou's a transvestite. Can you believe that?" Bakura started laughing, but soon stopped when he realized that Marik wasn't joining in and was instead looking at the ground, his bangs concealing his eyes. Bakura raised an eyebrow at him. "Have something you want to say princess?"

Marik glared for the term 'princess' before clearing his throat awkwardly and saying, "So… Ryou's _not_ a… transvestite?"

Bakura blinked at him before laughing. "I-is that what you thought?" he continued to laugh as Marik seethed at him.

"Well, I don't know _what_ to think!" Marik yelled at Bakura, getting more than annoyed when he kept laughing that maniacal laugh of his, "All you told me was that Ryou's really a boy, I don't know _why_ he's pretending to be a girl!"

Bakura clamed himself down and smirked at Marik. "Well, if you want to know the 'why' then you have to ask Ryou."

"You know why I can't do that…"

"Because it's awkward and he doesn't know that you know his secret?"

"… Yes…"

Bakura snickered.

Marik ground his teeth together. "I hate you so much."

"Yeah yeah, I hate you too kid."

"Again, we're the _same age_," Marik said, but then he realized something and smirked, "besides, I'm taller than you."

Bakura rounded on him, "What?" he asked irritably, before realizing that the Egyptian teen was, in fact, about three inches (ten centimeters) taller than him. "… Damn it… How did I not notice that?"

"Because your ego's so big that everyone looks small to you."

Bakura glared. "Better to have a big ego than none at all."

"Hey! I have _plenty_ of ego!" Marik fought.

"_Right_," Bakura said like he didn't believe him one bit.

Marik rolled his eyes. "I'm fine just the way I am, _you_ on the other hand have a _long_ way to go before you're 'fine.'"

"Makes for a more exciting journey."

"Where'd you get that? A fairytale book?"

"Where'd you get _that?_ The uncreative comeback store?"

"I'm uncreative?" Marik asked incredulously, "That comeback's so old _Grandma's_ use it!"

"But _I_ changed it up a bit, and it takes _creativity_ to do that."

Marik shook his head. "You're impossible."

"You've already said that."

"Because it's true."

"Uncreative Princess…"

"Better than those stupid nick-names you come up with."

Bakura smirked. "As long as they insult you I don't care if they're stupid or not, _Princess_."

"At least I don't look like a fluffy _cat_."

Bakura growled. "I. Am. Not. A. _Cat!_ And even if I _was_ a cat, I would still be ten times more creative than you."

Marik smirked. "Let's prove it," he said, "we _are_ writing in Otogi's journal aren't we…? Whoever comes up with the most _creative_ entry is titled "Creative King.""

Bakura blinked before copying his classmate's smirk. "Okay, and the loser has to…"

Marik's smirk turned more devious. "Loser has to tell something damn-right embarrassing about themselves to the other."

Bakura was silent. "… Embarrassing?" he asked, just a little hesitant.

Marik nodded. "Yup. The most embarrassing thing you've ever done or said," he chuckled, "why? You scared?"

Bakura glowered at him, "Of course not! Especially since _I'm_ going to win. But who's going to be the judge?"

Marik though about it. "Hm… Well, both of us are biased so we're out…"

Bakura looked amused. "You're admitting you're biased?"

"I don't want to tell you my most embarrassing moment."

"Good point… Ryou could be the judge."

Marik turned on him. "Ryou?" he asked, disbelief written all over his voice, "The person who doesn't even want you to carry out this plan?"

Bakura chuckled. "He'll do it, I know he will. Even if he won't admit it he loves my mischief and schemes."

Marik smiled playfully. "Just as much as you love him right?"

Bakura glared, yet a noticeable amount of red came to his face and he punched Marik in his side - _hard_.

"Ow! It was a joke!" Marik said, rubbing his side, "Though now I'm wondering…"

Bakura hit him again, so Marik ran ahead, but Bakura wasn't done with him yet so he started chasing him, so of course Marik kept running. _Note to self_, Marik thought, _Don't bring up him loving Ryou…_

* * *

"OKAY!" Amora exclaimed as they arrived at the mall, "Spread out and find some clothes for Ryou! We'll meet back at the food court in one hour!"

"Um, actually Amora," a red-haired girl with a lot of freckles said with a sly look on her face, "a few of us were going to go help Anai find some new clothes…" the last part sounded a little devious, at least to Ryou. He looked at Anai, who was looking at the red-head confused - obviously it was the first she's heard of this.

Amora, however, just smiled and said, "Sure! But keep a look out for some cool boy clothes too, and remember! It has to scream "Ryou the _boy!_""

Ryou almost sighed at Amora's last proclamation. _I'm sure the clothes in my closet would do just fine…_ he thought to himself. "Amora," he said to her, "I _could_ just borrow some of my brother's clothes you know…"

Amora shook her head. "No way! That's _Bakura's_ style! We need to find _your_ style!"

… _Again, the clothes in my closet would do just fine…_ Ryou thought, sighing in his head. On the outside, he smiled softly and said, "All right, let's get shopping then…" The girls agreed and separated into small groups, and Ryou briefly wondered if they had been planning them or were just thought of on the spot, but before he could think more into this Amora grabbed 'her' hand and said, "Let's go!"

As Amora dragged 'her' over to some random shop, Ryou tried to think of what clothes might be considered his 'style'. He usually just bought what was comfortable, was that a style? Or was that the opposite? He wondered if he should ask Amora… But would she think it odd that he didn't know? Or was your 'style' only something others an see? He decided to ask anyways. "Amora-san," he said, noticing that his hand was starting to hurt by how enthusiastically she was dragging him, "what _is_ my style?"

She turned on him, ceasing the dragging. "You don't know?"

He shook his head. "I just buy whatever's comfortable," he shrugged, "I don't really notice 'styles' or things like that…"

Amora blinked at her then smiled. "You know, I think the world would be better if we all had that kind of attitude…"

Ryou smiled, but didn't agree nor deny, just laughed a bit.

"Well… from what I've seen, I'd say your style is… Um…" she flushed, "Actually, I'm not the best person at this either… Let's ask someone else."

"But the others are elsewhere…" Ryou brought up.

Amora looked around, seeing that 'she' was right. She hesitated, but then her face took on a fierce expression. "Look, we'll know your style when we see it! Let's just go!" she grabbed his arm again and took off at a faster pace. Ryou just ran behind, keeping up fairly easily but doubting that her plan was going to work. If they didn't know what his style was, how were they supposed to know what to look for? Hopefully the other girls were having better luck than he and Amora were…

The first outfit he tried on was a water-type-blue T-shirt with a navy green over-shirt along with black cargo pants. Amora said it looked nice, but that they should keep looking. She snapped a picture to show to the other girls later.

The next outfit 'she' tried on was a red T-shirt with tan pants, but Amora said the colors were too conflicting, especially with his white hair. She snapped a picture anyway.

Then Ryou tried on a light blue polo with white pants. Amora inspected this outfit closely, saying it was pretty good, but that it was missing something…

They tried on more colors, usually light since Amora _insisted_ that light colors suited him best. He wasn't sure how she came up with that, but it made sense when considering his white hair - wouldn't dark colors just bring out it's oddness more? Of course that's what Bakura seemed to like about wearing black… but still, light colors probably would be better.

After a while, Amora seemed to give up hope. "We'll never find it!" she said sadly, "I'm a love expert! Not a fashion expert!"

Ryou smiled encouragingly at her. "Don't worry, I'm sure the other girls are having better luck."

She looked at him disconsolately, "I hope so…"

"Cheer up beautiful," a new, low voice interrupted. They both turned to see a boy with short black hair that was greased back. He wore black shorts with a black T-shirt that had a picture of a flaming Jolly Roger on it along with a black jacket. He smiled at Amora confidently. "I'm sure you and your friend will find whatever you're looking for. Did I hear correctly when I heard you're a, 'love expert?'" he asked, looking directly at Amora.

Amora blinked at him, but then her face hardened. "Yes, you heard correctly. Why does it concern you?"

He laughed. "You're the love expert here," he gave her a more analyzing look, "you tell me baby-doll."

They stared at each other before Amora smiled a huge, fake smile. "Well, if you're hoping to ask me out, you might want to be a little more chivalrous and a little less mysterious," she turned her back on him, "I'm only interested in the hopeless romantic types, not the "cool" types like you," she used air quotes when saying the word 'cool.' Ryou watched her with curiosity as her face turned angry again, she rounded on him and pointed right at his chest. "You tough-guy types are all the same! Expecting girls just to fall all over you, well I'm not that kind of girl! Let's go Ryou!" she snapped as she grabbed Ryou's hand again and started dragging 'her' along. "And I may _not_ be a fashion expert," she threw over her shoulder loudly, "but I still know that wearing all black doesn't make you any cooler!"

Ryou looked back just in time to see that guy blink and look confused as to what just happened. He'd seen that look often enough times to know that this guy wasn't who he appeared to be and that Amora had pegged him all wrong… "Amora, wait," he said, digging his heels into the tiled floor to slow her down, "give him a chance -"

"Why should I?" she asked harshly just as the guy said, "Wait!" Amora stopped and turned to him, trading Ryou's hand for crossing her arms. She observed him coldly as he caught up and stood in front of her. He stared at her long and hard before messing up his hair and sliding his jacket off, throwing it over his shoulder nonchalantly. He smiled a nice smile. "Look, my friends told me I needed to act more 'cool' if I wanted a girlfriend," he ran his hand through his hair and closed his eyes, giving his face a more childish appeal, "but that's not really me, so could we start over?"

Amora looked at him before sighing and smiling sadly at him. "Look," she said, her voice getting a tone that meant she was explaining something hard to him, "you seem like an okay guy right now, but how do I know you're not just pretending? For all I know, you could just be trying anything to get me for some confidence booster or something… and if this _is_ the real you, then you already lied to me and I'll be doubtful of what you say in the future.

"You want a girlfriend? Be yourself to some _other_ girl. It's better she falls in love with the real you than a fake you, isn't that right? Be completely honest with her _from the start_. Girls don't like liars," she smiled more friendly at him, "but with a smile like that, I'm sure a lot of girls like you and you're just too dense to realize it. I'll see you around. Maybe. Bye!" She turned on her heels and started walking away. Ryou gave the boy a quick, encouraging yet apologetic smile before following.

"That was pretty nice of you," Ryou commented.

Amora smiled, "Why thank you."

"Are you really in to the 'hopeless romantic' types as you said before?" Ryou asked curiously.

"Yeah," Amora said, getting a dreamy look in her eye, "I want someone who's so sweet I'll have cavities for the rest of my life… and we'd go on romantic walks through the beach at sunset, and he'd sing to me, and we'd just have so much fun…" she flushed and gave Ryou a weird look, "but you _can't_ tell _any_ of the girls, you got that? No one knows about my soft, girly side…"

Ryou giggled. "No problem." He had to admit, what she wanted was really… ironic, bordering on hypocritical, considering how she acted towards boys. He hoped she did find her dream guy one day though…

They walked in silence for a while, until Ryou asked, "How can you know he's dense?"

She smiled, knowing 'she' was referring to the liar they had encountered earlier. "He just has that look on his face… Kind of like yours."

Ryou looked at her confused. "Mine?"

"You're pretty dense Ryou…" she said vaguely, "I could name three people right now that have a crush on you, and you probably couldn't even name _one_, could you?"

"Um…" Ryou hesitated. _Three?_ he thought, _Who?_ "No one has a crush on me…" he said, his voice unsure.

Amora laughed. "Of course you think that. I need to make you less dense Ryou… that's my other job at this school!" she exclaimed.

Ryou laughed. "Whatever you say Amora…" Ryou glanced at a digital clock hanging on the wall. Yikes! Their hour was up! "Should we meet up with the other girls now?" he asked, gesturing to the wall-clock.

"Yeah, probably," Amora agreed. They hightailed it to the food court and seemed to be the last people to have arrived. "There you are!" Anzu said, "We were wondering where you two had went!"

"Sooorrryyy…" Amora said, "we forgot to look at the time…"

"Obviously," Anzu said before turning to the girls that had gathered there, "Okay, is everyone here?"

"Not quite," said a voice behind her. All the girls and Ryou turned to look at the person. It was just the red-haired girl from before that had went shopping with Anai. She was standing to the side of one of the mall's support beams. "I present to you," she said, building up her words, "The new and improved Sagaki Anai!" She gestured to the support beam and took a few steps away from it. Anai walked out afterwards, her face red from the somewhat-embarrassing intro. All the girls' eyes widened when they saw her - she looked beautiful!

She still wore a skirt, but now it was white and ruffled and went just below the knees. Along with that, she wore a light blue short-sleeved shirt with the top, bottom, and sleeves ruffled as well. She also sported light blue flats that had swirls of white in them with a light blue headband. The blue complimented her eyes, and the white complimented the blue, and it just looked wonderful on her, but even so, Anai just stood there shyly, her red face cast downwards, her arms behind her back, her feet pointing in, but her shyness just made her look all the more cute!

Amora whistled, "Dang girl! You need more outfits like that."

"You look so _cute~!_" another joined in.

"What happened to your other clothes?" one girl asked.

"I think you'd look better in yellow!"

"Blue is nice, but orange is more of your color."

"I love the shoes!"

All the girls started encouraging her, knowing that she'd never wear this outfit or anything like it again unless she was convinced. They always encouraged Anai, she needed it, after all she's been through… It was something they had to do and loved doing.

As all the girls rushed towards Anai and caused her to blush more and thank them softly, Ryou just cocked his head and looked at her. He had to admit, she looked very cute, it was such a good look for her personality. Ryou had always considered blue a more passive color, and Anai was _definitely_ passive. He smiled, she _should_ wear more things like that, ruffles were certainly _her_ style. Ryou smiled brightly with his eyes closed, "You look really cute Anai," he put in his two cents along with everyone else.

Ryou opened his eyes and looked around confusedly as everyone was silent after his comment. They all were looking at Anai who was staring at Ryou, her mouth a small 'o' and her cheeks blushing red, making her look that much more adorable. She was about to look down again and nervously thank Ryou for the compliment, but then remembered that she'd promised to smile more… She swallowed and gave a shy smile, "Th-thank you Ryou-chan… That means a lot coming from you."

Ryou smiled, happy that she _was_, in fact, smiling more like she said. Now if only she could get rid of that stutter.

It was silent between the Club for a second, but there was also a lot of grinning before Anzu fake-coughed and clapped her hands. "Okay, so now that Anai has a new outfit, how's Ryou's coming along?"

"OOH!" Miho said, "I found the _perfect_ outfit for our little Ryou-chan~!" she took out her phone and showed the girls a picture. The outfit consisted of a blue shirt striped horizontally with white and light blue/almost gray pants. The girls inspected it, and Anzu turned to Ryou, "What do you think?"

Ryou looked at it. "Honestly?" he said before his face broke into a smile, "I really like it…"

The girls looked at it a bit more, before Anzu asked, "Does anyone think they have anything better?"

The girls searched through their phones and cameras noisily, beeping, talking amongst themselves, but after a little bit it was decided that this _was_ the perfect outfit for Ryou the boy! It wasn't too manly, but it also wasn't too kiddish, it was perfect. "Where did you find this outfit Miho-chan?"

"I'll show you!" she said, smiling smugly from the fact that she had found the outfit for him. Of course, it figured that the girl who loved shopping would find the perfect outfit for 'her,' and everyone just laughed to themselves at the typical, girly stereotype.

* * *

Bakura arrived at his house first and locked Marik out. He was still mad at the Egyptian's previous comment… He'd let him in eventually, just… not right now.

He walked inside and threw his backpack on the couch before plopping down next to it. He zipped it open and took out Otogi's MP3 player and journal, smirking. Bakura _still_ couldn't believe that Otogi had an actual journal! He cracked it open to start reading when someone began pounding on his door. "Bakura!" Marik called angrily, "Let me in!"

The almost-albino smirked, "Just a minute deary~!" he joked, "I have to clean up first!"

"I know that's a load of crap! Open the damn door before I just go home and forget about your stupid plan!"

Bakura chuckled but then walked over and opened the door, Otogi's diary still in hand. He smirked at Marika and made a sweeping gesture inside his home, "Won't you please come in, royal princess Marik?"

Marik groaned and rolled his eyes. "Are you on crack? I swear you're on crack."

"Come now, crack is illegal."

"Which is exactly why you'd have it."

Bakura narrowed his eyes. "You _still_ don't know me."

"I know enough, so are we looking at Otogi's journal or what?" Marik asked as he walked inside, closing the door behind him. He sat down on the couch where Bakura had been sitting before, so Bakura sat on the other side of his backpack. He opened up the journal and flipped through it, but just then Marik started to feel… just a little guilty. "Should we really be reading someone else's journal?" he asked. "If this was my journal - would you hesitate to read it?"

"… Probably not," Marik admitted. I mean, _Bakura_ having a _journal?-!_ The thought made no sense.

"Just think of how much you hate this guy," Bakura said before reading the book, his eyes going wide in a few seconds, "… and how much he _doesn't_ hate you apparently…"

Marik raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

Bakura held the book out to him and pointed to a sentence. "Read from there," he ordered.

Marik took the book and started reading:

'_Dear Journal_,' Otogi had written, '_I can't hide it anymore, I can't just put these thoughts to rest like I had originally thought… at first I figured it was a phase, just stupid hormones talking, but it's been a pretty long time, and the thoughts still haven't gone away…'_ as Marik read further his eyes kept getting wider and wider. Was this saying what he thought it was saying…?

After reading a while, Marik screamed and threw the book back at Bakura. He started shuddering. "No freaking way!" he exclaimed, "Otogi has a _crush_ on me?-!" The reason Marik said this was because he had just read, '_I don't think I can hide these stupid feelings for Ishtar anymore…'_

Marik felt like he was going to be sick. He groaned, "That is _so _gross!-!"

Bakura, on the other hand, was laughing maniacally, "You know what they say, you're mean to the person you like!"

"No wonder people think we like each other so much then…" Marik commented. He just couldn't believe it, not one bit. Maybe this was a fake diary…? It would make more sense than Otogi… _liking_ him. "Do you think it's a fake diary?" Marik asked. Bakura had been reading more into the book, but he shook his head anyways. "Nope, I just read that Otogi is trying to get rid of all these 'gay' thoughts as he says. It was just as we thought - he's in denial… but judging from this," he held up the book just a little to show what he was talking about, "it seems like it _is_ more of a phase than anything."

Marik raised an eyebrow, "How can you think that?"

"He said that he only started having these thought when he met you. Before, he hated our kind," Marik smiled slightly at the term 'our kind.' "I'm assuming that since now someone like that goes to his _school_, he started thinking about it and then _bam_, these thoughts came to him. And, since you were the only gay person for miles around, of course he would only have these thoughts towards you," Bakura smirked, "who knows? Maybe he's _jealous_ of how close we are already."

Marik's face enflamed and he punched Bakura in the shoulder - hard. "He's the one who started those rumors in the first place! And we're not even that close," Marik copied his "friend's" smirk, "of course I would _love_ to get closer to Ryou-chan."

Bakura growled. "I swear you have a death wish for calling him "chan.""

Marik shrugged. "So… now what are we going to do with his journal?" Marik asked, bringing the conversation back to the matter at hand.

"Well… all I was going to do was write that he had feelings for you… but that's already done, so… I guess we don't have to do anything to his journal!" Bakura exclaimed, "Darn, and I was looking forward to practicing my forgery skills…"

Marik shrugged. "Ah well… this also means our previous bet is off too."

Bakura pouted slightly, "Aw, and I was so looking forward to hearing your most embarrassing moment."

"Don't you mean you were looking forward to _telling_ me _**your**_ most embarrassing moment?"

Bakura stuck his tongue out at Marik before stuffing the journal back in his backpack and taking out the MP3 player. He tossed it to Marik who caught it easily. "Here, knock yourself out while I go get my laptop."

"You have a laptop?" Marik asked, putting the earphones in his ears.

"It was a birthday present," he said offhandedly as he disappeared up the stairs, down the hall, and into his room. Marik just turned the MP3 on and listened to whatever was playing. It was some song he had never heard before… he clicked the skip button, but it still wasn't anything he knew. He kept clicking through until he came to a weird beat… when the words came on he found that he couldn't understand them… It sounded English though, what song was this? Did Otogi know English?

Bakura came back down the stairs in at that second with his laptop and sat down on the couch again, putting it on his lap. He typed his password in and waited for it to load, and then he looked over at Marik. "What songs does he have on there anyway?" he asked.

Marik shrugged. "Most of them I don't know, but there's this English song on here."

"English? Let me listen," Bakura ripped a microphone out of Marik's ear painfully, causing Marik to just glare at him. As soon as Bakura put the ear phone in his ear he cracked a grin and chuckled. "Wanna know what this says?" he asked.

Marik raised an eyebrow, "You know English?"

"My dad was British, while my mom taught us Japanese he taught us English."

Marik burst out laughing. "Y-you're _British?_ That's hilarious! I must hear your accent!"

Bakura's eye twitched. "For the record," he said, "an accent is easy to get rid of."

"You never got rid of it did you?"

"No," Bakura admitted, "Anyway, loosely translated it says, "I'm bringing sexy back.""

Marik laughed, "Of _course_ he'd have that on his music player, the prideful, arrogant, jackass…"

Bakura snickered, "I still can't get over how he has a crush on you, do you realize how awkward part of our plan will be for him?"

Marik's face paled. "Oh crap… I forgot what I had to do…"

Bakura burst out laughing, "His face will probably go so red!

Suddenly Marik's face contorted in horror. "What if…"

"… What if what?" Bakura asked.

"Well… the plan includes me asking him out, doesn't it?"

"… Yeah…" Bakura answered, seeing where he's going with this.

"Well… what if he says _yes?_"

Both teens were silent for a long time. Then Bakura said, "He has an image to keep - he won't say yes."

"But what if he _does?_"

"Well, then abort the plan."

Marik was surprised. "Really?" he asked with a raised eyebrow, "You'd let me just, drop the whole plan like that?"

Bakura shrugged. "I may be cruel, but I'm not _that_ cruel."

Marik smiled. "Okay then… so what did we need his MP3 for anyway?"

Bakura typed something in on his laptop, "You'll see in a second, why don't you just relax for now kay? Keep listening to Otogi's player," he smirked, "do you think he'd cuddle the thing if he knew you held it?"

Marik rolled his eyes, "_No_," he said forcefully.

Bakura snickered and went back to searching on his laptop.

Marik kept listening, but then he snickered, "Looks like 'Kura can be kind after all…" he sang quietly.

Bakura ceased his typing to glare at the offending Egyptian. "I'm not going to force you to go out with Otogi. Unless you _want_ to, then that's your problem… Besides, if you _do_ drop the plan I can take revenge another way."

"And what would that be?"

"Steal all of his homework until he gets expelled."

Marik laughed, "Why don't you just do that then?"

Bakura smirked, "Because, my dear princess, this way is more fun."

Marik rolled his eyes, "I'm your 'dear princess' now?" he smirked, "I could have sworn you'd save that title for Ryou." Bakura's eye started twitching, but just then Marik thought of something that didn't add up. He turned the music player off before asking, "So… you said you're the 'Thief King' right?"

"That's my title, don't say it around the adults," Bakura said offhandedly as he started typing again.

"And you've _never_ been caught?" he asked suspiciously.

Bakura smirked, "Didn't I already tell you this? I got caught a few times, but on purpose because I wanted to see what juvy was like. Why do you want to know? Got a thing for bad boys princess?"

"Call me princess _one more time_ and see what happens -"

"I'll save that challenge for later," Bakura interrupted.

" - the reason I ask is because I remember Ryou telling me that you were never caught," Marik finished as a memory during lunch flashed through his head.

~!~!~

_A kid wearing a black shirt with a skull on it and a chain necklace showed up. "Hey," he said, looking at Bakura, "I hear they call you the Thief King where you come from."_

_Bakura was silent – as was everyone else at his table. "You heard right," he confirmed, "What's it to you?"_

_The kid smiled, "A few of my buddies would like to meet ya. Will ya come or not?"_

_Bakura smiled, "I'd be _delighted_," he turned to Ryou, "Sorry sis – my people need me!" He stood up with a flourish and walked out with the shady character._

_Ryou sighed. "And I thought Bakura could go the whole year without making bad choices…"_

_"I have a question," Marik interrupted, "If he's _known_ for being the "Thief King," why isn't he in jail? Or at least juvy?"_

_"Only the delinquents know him as that," Ryou explained, "everyone else has no idea who keeps stealing from them."_

_"Wait," Honda asked, "Do you mean that he's stolen a lot of things?"_

_Ryou nodded._

_"And he's never been caught?" Atem inquired._

_Ryou smiled sadly. "They don't call him the Thief _King_ for nothing."_

~!~!~

Marik stared at Bakura as his head was down and void of all emotion. He sighed and looked up at him, "All right, truth is I _haven't_ been caught."

What baffled Marik was that he sounded _sad_ about this fact. "… Isn't that good for a thief?" he asked.

Bakura sighed, "Not when you're a teenager it's not…" he said cryptically, "what do you have to show for your crimes? The things you stole? You could easily _buy_ those things and just _say_ you stole them. At least in the thieving adult world you know the things people steal are actually stolen… when you're a teenager, not so much. The only way to show that you're truly trying to be a delinquent is by doing time in juvy… The most I've gotten is a few warnings."

Marik was still confused, "So, you're saying you can't be a real thief until you've gone to juvy?"

"I'm saying you can't be a bad boy until you've gone to juvy."

"Then… why _didn't_ you get caught?"

Bakura gave Marik a look that scared him. It wasn't a scary look, but it was… empty, sad, like it was far away from where they were. "Think hard… the reason is obvious."

Marik looked at him and thought hard. _He didn't want his dad to be disappointed in him? Or maybe he's really a 'family man' and couldn't stand to be away from his family? Or…_

_Ryou…_

Marik's eyes widened slightly. He said tentatively, "…Ryou…?"

Bakura sighed. "Ryou had already acquired a few bullies, so naturally I protected him from them… They hurt him and harassed him whenever they saw him alone, even if it was only for a few minutes… can you imagine if I was gone for a month? Or a week? Or even a _day?_ I can't… let that happen…" Bakura stared at his dimming computer screen disconsolately.

Marik just watched Bakura, surprised that he was showing so much… weakness… He really did care for Ryou, didn't he? But there was one question that kept pestering him… "Why did Ryou have so many bullies…?" he asked quietly.

Bakura smiled sadly. "That's the kicker - they were mainly caused by me," Marik was shocked by that answer, but when he thought about it, it made sense… and Bakura's next words confirmed his assumptions: "Even before I was the 'Thief King' I had always been a troublemaker… made a lot of enemies… and since they couldn't get to _me_, they got to my brother…" he chuckles lightly, "when I look back, if I had acted like I didn't care about Ryou at all… they probably would have left him alone… but as it is…" a painful memory flashed in Bakura's eyes:

~!~!~

_Fifth-grade Bakura was playing kickball with some of his fellow 'bad boys,' or at least as bad a boy as you can be in fifth grade. He still didn't consider them his 'friends,' but they were close. He just slid to home on the grass, earning himself a home run. He stood up and cheered for himself, and his teammates clapped him on the back. He grinned at them, but then a flash of white disappeared behind his peripheral vision. He turned towards that direction, and barely saw Ryou being taken somewhere by someone he didn't like and made it a _point_ to show he didn't like. Bakura's danger sense went off and he ran away from the kickball game and after them, he barely heard his team calling back for him. _

_Bakura dashed around a corner of the school to see one of his enemies standing before Ryou, who was sitting on the ground with his hand held to his cheek. He wasn't crying, he just looked… hurt. Bakura's fists clenched before he yelled, "Hey!" _

_The guy turned around and sneered at him, "Oh look, if it isn't the big bully troublemaker, Bakura. Come here to protect your brother?" he asked before kicking Ryou in his side. Ryou just winced, but he didn't make a noise. _

_Bakura growled dangerously. "Get away from him!"_

_The guy smirked, "Seems I've found your weakness after all," he said, getting ready to kick Ryou again, but just then Bakura ran and pounced on him, kicking, punching, biting, showing no mercy - how _dare_ he hurt Ryou! _

_The guy just screamed and tried desperately to get him off, but Bakura was clinging to him like a cat clings to a high tree branch and he couldn't. Eventually Bakura got tired so he got off, letting the guy run away, calling back, "You're crazy!"_

_Bakura spat after him, "And you're stupid! Looks like we're even!" He turned to Ryou and kneeled next to him, putting his arms around him for support. "Are you okay Ryou? Why didn't you say anything! Why didn't you fight back!"_

_Ryou just smiled at Bakura, a nice, cute, Ryou smile, "Well… you know I don't like violence… besides, it was obvious he was just using me to get to you so… I figured it wasn't a fight I needed to fight."_

_Bakura closed his eyes, trying to drown the anger and sorrow he felt. "You need to learn to stand up for yourself Ryou…"_

_He looked away, "I know Bakura… I know…"_

~!~!~

"… As it is, they kept hurting him 'cause they knew it bothered me…" Bakura finished after his memory.

_Why am I telling Marik all this?_ he thought to himself, _I've never told anyone that… not even dad. Why is it so easy to talk to him? Why don't I immediately regret telling him this?_ Bakura couldn't figure out the answers to any of his questions. Maybe Ryou was right… he just needed a friend, and he had to admit, having Ishtar as a friend wouldn't be _horrible_. It might actually be… fun… But how would he know if they _are_ friends? He's never really had a "friend" before, how would he be able to tell? Would it happen gradually, or suddenly? Had they already become friends without Bakura knowing it?

He decided not to worry about this right now since he still had more to get off his chest, "In the long run it's my fault Ryou got bullied so much…" Bakura continued telling his "friend" in confidence, "and I couldn't always be there to protect him… and for some, inexplicable reason he never fought back, so…"

All was silent as Marik took this in. How horrible it must be to know that it was your fault your brother got bullied… but why _didn't_ Ryou stand up for himself? Why did he just take it like that? Marik couldn't think of any rational answer, and as he looked at Bakura he could tell he didn't know why his brother didn't stand up for himself either… Did he _really_ just not like violence, even if it's to defend yourself? Or did he not mind the pain? Marik's eyes widened as he thought this next thought: Was he _used_ to the pain, and just didn't care about it anymore? How many others hurt Ryou since they couldn't touch Bakura? Is that what Bakura thinks too? He looked at Bakura, so many unanswered questions…

Although, everything that had run through Marik's head was broken instantly when Bakura said, "In a way I'm kind of happy he's pretending to be a girl… no more bullies, you know?" he scowled, "Though dealing with the boys that are crushing on him is annoying…"

Marik looked forward. He knew without a doubt that Bakura just wanted to change the subject, after all, he probably felt horribly guilty about all of Ryou's bullies… So he played along and smirked, "You mean like Otogi?"

"Exactly - speaking of which, we need to get back to our plan."

"Right." With that, Marik turned the music player back on. Though he couldn't help but feel that he and Bakura were just that much closer now… maybe even friends, or close at least.

Was that a good thing? It didn't really seem like Bakura _wanted_ any friends except Ryou, and he probably never told anyone this before… so should he have heard all of this? Of course, Bakura must feel comfortable around him if he was willing to tell him something so painful, so personal…

So again, was that a good thing?

Marik couldn't help it when his mind responded with: _Yes._

* * *

"That outfit _is_ perfect!" Anzu said when they saw Ryou in the outfit Miho had found, "Totally Ryou!"

"You could even wear it for everyday!" Amora added.

"See? Miho-chan knows what she's doing," Miho said smugly.

"No one ever doubted you Miho…" Kana-chan told her.

"It fits you very well," one girl said.

"Looking good Ryou!" another put in.

"If you were a boy I'd ask you on a date!"

"Me too!"

When Ryou heard the last two statements, he couldn't help but feel a pit in his stomach. "Um… thanks…" he said, surprised by how much positive feedback and encouragement he was getting, he was only used to getting encouragement from his family, mainly Bakura. Other people giving encouragement… was just unusual to him, but it felt nice, it felt… encouraging. He smiled at them as the girls kept saying positive things, "Thanks girls!"

Just then Anai walked up to him with a light pink blush on her face, but she was smiling slightly. "You look very… nice… Ryou-chan," she said shyly.

He smiled at her, spreading the encouragement around. "Thank you Anai-chan."

He heard snickering around the girls and saw Anzu glare at them before walking up to Ryou and clapping 'her' on the back, "Well! We found your outfit! Let's go buy it." They walked up to the counter, and the girls _insisted_ that they all pitch in for the outfit since it was a plan they all came up with and agreed on. Not that Ryou minded much, but he was very thankful and just a little surprised at how nice these girls were.

Once they were out of the store, Anzu asked Ryou, "So what do you want to do now?"

"Let's go shopping for real!" Miho exclaimed, interrupting Anzu's sort-of conversation.

Ryou laughed, "Yeah, let's just look around the mall, I'm sure Bakura and Marik aren't done anyway."

Amora raised an eyebrow, "Done with what?"

"… Their plan for Otogi…"

Amora smiled, "Oh right! They have a plan too, I forgot. Heheh, Otogi's getting it now! _Finally!_ _YES!_" Amora screamed in delight, she even jumped up and pumped her fist in the air to which everyone laughed.

"Okay everyone," Anzu called when she was done laughing, "Girl's Club meeting adjourned! Feel free to stay or go home if you want."

Kana-chan and some other girls said their goodbye's, Miho-chan and a few others said they were off to their favorite stores, Mandai-chan and her friends said they were going to a movie, and Anzu said she was going to hang out with Yugi. Amora clapped Ryou on the back, "Can I stick with you new buddy new pal? I _did_ say I was walking you home."

Ryou laughed, "Of course Amora." Just then, he noticed, Anai looking at everyone leave and tried to decide where to go herself. Ryou called out to her, "Anai-chan! Want to come with us?"

Anai seemed surprised that Ryou asked the question. A pink blush came to her cheeks, "O-oh, I wouldn't want to i-impose…" she said sincerely.

"Don't worry about that!" Ryou reassured, "Come on, or do you have something else to do?"

Anai blinked at 'her,' and then smiled, "Okay…" she said before walking over to them. After she stood by them, the trio started walking down a random wing and - Ryou didn't notice this - Amora smiled knowingly at Anai and gave her a wink, causing her to blush and feel more nervous than she already had been. When Amora winked at you - all was _not_ right with the world…

They walked for a while, mainly doing window shopping but occasionally going inside, and Ryou was just a little glad that as soon as they had found his 'boy' outfit that they didn't insist on him shopping for… more girly clothes. What if they tried to find him an outfit like Anai's? With a skirt? Or what if they wanted him to try on a _dress?_ He shuddered at the thought, and was very jovial with how much luck must like him. But how long would lady luck stick around for him…?

He hoped it would be a very, very, _very_ long time.

After a while, Amora slapped a hand to her forehead and announced, "I forgot! I'm supposed to pick up some conditioner for my mom… I'll catch up with you two later, okay?" she said.

Ryou smiled at her, "Sure, how about we meet up at Jamba Juice? **(1)**"

"Wh-what time?" Anai asked nervously, though Ryou didn't know why she was nervous.

Amora smiled, "How about in a half-hour?" she didn't wait for the others to agree as she continued: "See you then!" She ran off before Anai could protest.

Ryou smiled at the shy girl, "Do you have anywhere you'd like to go?"

Anai shook her head profusely. "N-no! Not at all…!" she said.

Ryou laughed, "Okay, how about we go in there?" he pointed to a shop that seemed to sell little, entertaining, useless trinkets.

Anai nodded, "Sure…" she said as she put her hands behind her back, Ryou could tell she was still nervous, but of what he wasn't exactly sure.

Ryou smiled at her. "You don't have to be so nervous Anai… It's just me."

Anai smiled shyly, "I know… I'm just…" she tried to find the right words, but she couldn't think of any.

"Well," Ryou said as he grabbed Anai's hand like he had that morning, "Let's go!" He started walking with Anai right behind, but she just couldn't stop staring at Ryou's hand in hers…

* * *

"I've found it!" Bakura announced, interrupting Marik bobbing his head to possibly the only song he knew on Otogi's MP3.

Marik took out his earphones, well, technically they're Otogi's, but you get the point. "What did you find?" he asked.

Bakura smiled, "Something that might help both you _and_ him!"

Marik raised an eyebrow. "This I _gotta_ see…" Bakura handed him the laptop, the first thing Marik was a small, black, rectangular button with the 'Play' symbol in the middle. Above it said, " "So You're Gay" motivational tapes." Marik burst out laughing, "A-are you _serious_ right now? You want to download _this_ on Otogi's MP3?"

Bakura chuckled, "Now do you see why we needed it?"

"Yes!" Marik laughed, "But what's the point? How is anyone gonna hear it?"

"I'm going to tell 9-A's teacher that Otogi listens to music during class and that some of the songs are 'inappropriate' as well, so he'll take the player and listen to it to hear the 'inappropriate' music, and instead get this."

"But that only leaves the teacher to hear it," Marik pointed out, "don't we want the whole class to hear it?" Marik had to admit, he was having _so _much fun helping with this evil scheme! At first, he hadn't been to sure about this plan, but as things got rolling and it got even more devious… well, it sent a thrill through him that he just loved. He hoped he wouldn't become a scheme-chaser or something… Would this become a regular thing with him?

"That's where a tech nerd comes in," Bakura interrupted Marik's thoughts, "I'm going to ask him to alter the player and make it play _loudly_, and so that you can't stop it until at least a minute goes past."

"But what if he can't do it?" Marik asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Then I'll have it turned up as loud as it can go beforehand so that when the teacher plays it, the people in the front row will hear at _least_ the opening, and then we'll just wait for them to do the stereotypical, teenage act of gossiping."

"What if Otogi wants to listen to music before class? Or before the teacher confiscates it?"

"Someone's _bound_ to overhear, hopefully it will be a gossiper."

Marik looked at him. "You've got this all figured out, don't you?"

"Yup!" Bakura smirked, "The only reason I need you is to embarrass him further."

Marik snickered, "Whatever, where's the cord for the MP3?"

"Right here," Bakura said before he took a cord out of his backpack and hooked up the player to his computer. In a matter of minutes, Otogi had all of the " "So You're Gay" motivational tapes on his MP3. "You might want to download these too fruitcake," Bakura added as an undertone.

Marik narrowed his eyes, "I don't need _motivational tapes_, if anything, I need _de-_motivational tapes."

"Yeah right," Bakura scoffed, "you're about as motivated as a sloth."

"And you're about as bad as a flower with that brother complex you've got."

Bakura glared at him. "That's a low blow you keep hitting…" he said warningly.

Marik shrugged, "I know, but it annoys you."

Bakura rolled his eyes and then smiled, "Whatever, I'm just happy this plan is going off without a hitch! It's _perfect!_"

_Perfect:_ the word rang in Marik's ears, making him remember that Pegasus said that Bakura had called him that… He could feel his cheeks flush, and he immediately felt like hitting himself repeatedly with something hard, preferably a bat… yes… a bat… _Why_ was he getting so worked up over what Bakura might have said? He didn't even know if he _had_ called him that! He was just going off of what Pegasus had said, and could he _honestly_ be a reliable source? Of course not.

Unfortunately, the blushing didn't go unnoticed by Bakura who looked at him strangely and asked, "What in the heck is wrong with you?"

"… Just don't say that word."

Bakura scrunched up his eyebrows, "Word? Which one? You mean 'perfect?' "

Marik nodded. "Yeah… that one…"

"Why?"

Marik glared at him, "You know why!"

"No I don't…" Bakura said, trying to recall any possible explanation why Marik wouldn't like the word, 'perfect.' And why would it make him blush anyway?

Marik sighed. "Pegasus told me that you… called me that…" he said, avoiding the white-haired one's gaze.

Bakura blinked at him in a confused manner. "Huh? No I didn't… Oh!" he exclaimed, realizing the mistake, "No, I said you were perfect for this _plan_. Pegasus must have heard me wrong."

"… Oh…" Marik said. _Well,_ he thought, _now I just feel silly… getting all worked up over that stupid word._ Of course, it didn't surprise him that Bakura _hadn't_ called him 'perfect,' he would _never_ say that. Though, he had to admit, he felt just a little… disappointed. But only a little.

Unluckily, Bakura just put together why Marik would blush at the word 'perfect.' "Hold on," he said smugly, "you blushed at the word 'perfect' because you thought I called you that? Oh that's rich! You _do_ like me!" Bakura burst out laughing, leaving Marik to glare at him. "You wish! I was just surprised such a self-centered jerk like yourself could call anyone other than themselves perfect," he defended.

"Then why were you blushing Marik? Admit it! You _l~ooove _me!" he continued to laugh, "Aw, you're so cute Princess _Perfect!_"

Marik's eye started to twitch and he felt his hands turn to fists as Bakura kept laughing. "Well, at least I _still_ don't have a brother complex!" he screamed, hitting one of the only things he knew that bothered Bakura.

It worked, somewhat. Bakura stopped laughing at least, instead glaring at him. "Marik, you _still_ don't know me, so I wouldn't be throwing that "blackmail" around so much if I were you," he actually used air quotes on the word 'blackmail' to show that it wasn't _really_ blackmail, just something close to it.

"I know enough about you to see that _you're_ in love with Ryou. You _do_ know that's wrong on so many levels right?"

Bakura's fists started clenching and unclenching and he started grinding his teeth. "Marik," he hissed, "I'm warning you, it'd be a _real_ bad idea if you kept talking right now."

Marik didn't listen - he was still mad at the previous 'perfect' incident. "Like I'm afraid of you? _'Kura?_"

At that moment, Bakura lost it - he lunged for Marik, tackling him to the ground. "You know nothing about me!" Bakura screamed as he pushed his hands on top of his shoulders, "You can't judge me until you _know_ me! You're _not_ perfect! You're the exact opposite!"These words came out of Marik's mouth before he could stop them: "Well at least I'm not a thief who's never been to juvy!"

Rage washed over Bakura - he had told Marik that in confidence! He had thought they might have actually, somehow, against all odds, just might possibly become friends! Why the hell did Marik throw that back at him? He _knew_ why he couldn't go to juvy! He _knew!_ "You're dead Ishtar!" he screamed as he punched him, but Marik fought back, sitting up and pushing Bakura off of him. He stood up and Bakura followed suit, and then it turned into a battle of fisticuffs.

During the fight, Marik couldn't help but feel just plain awful and… mean about saying those things to Bakura. Sure, the guy might not be the best around, but even _he_ didn't deserve to have such things said to him… Though he mainly felt bad because he was pretty dang sure that Bakura had never told anyone that much about himself, and when he finally does tell someone he uses it against him… the guy already had enough trust issues, he didn't need more! Just fan-freaking-tastic… So now it was Marik's fault if Bakura never opened up to anyone ever again. Great, one more thing to add to his already guilty conscience.

Bakura just felt plain anger and… betrayal. He was thinking the same thing as Marik: the first time he tells someone something personal about himself and it gets thrown back in his face! Through the fight he remembered why he didn't have friends - they'd just betray and backstab you, like Marik just did. The idiot, he should feel _honored_ that he was told so much personal stuff! Instead he treats it like… like a burden that he has to throw back to get rid of. Of course it was Bakura's fault - he had gotten too comfortable, had even entertained the idea of 'friendship.' Well, he can promise you he won't make that mistake twice!

Eventually, the heated fight wore down and stopped completely, but Bakura was still incredibly mad at Marik. "_Leave!_" he yelled at him, "Leave my house and don't come back!"

Marik glared at him. "Fine!" he yelled back. He walked over to the front door and was about to open it when Bakura said, "Wait!" and held him still by grabbing his arm.

"I still need you for the plan…" he said unhappily.

Marik looked at him and all the fresh bruises that were on his arms and face… was that the beginnings of a black eye? Oh crap… "I think we should take care of ourselves first, it looks like you've got a little black eye going on."

Bakura held up a hand to his eye, he could feel it starting to swell. "Oh… Good idea, and you should wash off your arm - I bit you."

Marik's eyes widened. "You _bit_ me?" he asked, looking at his arm. Sure enough, there was a bite mark there, in fact, there were a _few_ bite marks all over his arm! Some of theme even broke skin and one was bleeding!-! He looked over at his other arm and saw the same thing. He stared at Bakura disbelievingly with his mouth agape.

The biting boy just shrugged and pointed to his incisors. "These teeth aren't for _show_ you know."

Marik shook his head. "Wow, you _are_ a cat."

Bakura growled. "Whatever, just come on in the bathroom, that's where our first-aid kit is."

They started walking to the bathroom when Marik said, "You know if I go home with a bite mark that my sister's gonna kill me right?"

"Not my problem," Bakura said coldly. He was still mad at the blonde boy.

Marik sighed. He obviously hurt Bakura and deterred any sort of relationship they had… but how could he make it up to him? Should he apologize? He didn't have time to entertain the idea as Bakura took the first-aid kit out of the bathroom cabinet and started searching through it. He took out a cloth which he immediately soaked with water and rung out, along with a bottle and some cotton swabs and said, "Sit down and give me your arm."

Marik would have protested and insisted that he could clean his arm himself, but the look on Bakura's face told him he shouldn't argue… so he sat down on the closed toilet seat and protruded his arm. Bakura knelt down, gripped the arm roughly, and started cleansing it with the water, though his arm started turning red with the unnecessary amount of pressure Bakura was applying and it hurt a bit in the process. Marik understood why Bakura wasn't being exactly _gentle_ with his arm, but he didn't understand why he insisted on cleaning it in the first place… you'd think he'd want nothing to do with Marik after what he'd said.

When Bakura was satisfied that he'd cleaned the arm well enough, he rinsed the cloth out and Marik watched some of his blood run down the cloth and empty into the drain. Bakura rung the now-clean cloth, and then grabbed the bottle he had grabbed before. It must have been some sort of cleaning alcohol because he applied it to a cotton ball while saying snidely, "Wouldn't want those _perfect_ arms of yours to get infected now would we?"

Marik rolled his eyes at this, but he didn't blush. Not when he said it like that… Marik could tell Bakura was still _really_ mad. And even though he knew Bakura was mad, he couldn't help but retort with: "So you admit you're a cat that has diseases?"

Bakura glared, but then he smirked and chuckled. "Even after what you said… you still have the nerve to keep talking?"

"You would," Marik replies honestly, then as an after thought he adds, "… wouldn't you?"

Bakura looked at him and then shrugged. "Maybe," he said before he started rubbing Marik's arm with the cotton ball. Marik winced at the pain the liquid brought, but he could handle it. He couldn't help but notice that Bakura was being more gentle than before, and he was being very thorough… why was he acting like this? The last time he was angry at him he couldn't even look at him, so why was he…?

Marik stopped trying to figure this out as Bakura started humming. He blinked at the man cleaning his bite marks, he couldn't help but notice that his movements became… almost automatic, and his eyes were far away again, as if remembering something from another time… and the tune that passed through his lips was… comforting, pleasant, as if assuring him that everything was all right. What the hell was happening with Bakura? It was odd enough that he was cleaning his wounds, and now he was humming a comforting tune? He didn't get Bakura, not at all… he _didn't_ know him that well, did he?

Marik wasn't sure how long he went on with his humming song, but suddenly Bakura stopped rubbing the marks with the cotton ball and face-palmed himself. "Marik," he said as if disappointed in himself, "Tell me, exactly _how_ long have I been humming…?"

"… Um… not sure," Marik said, "a while though…"

Bakura cussed and then sighed. He got up and threw the used cotton ball in the garbage and grabbed the cloth again, kneeling down in the next instant and saying, "Give me your other arm," he ordered. Marik did so without hesitation.

Bakura could tell that Marik wanted an explanation for his humming, so he sighed again. "I was the one who always nursed Ryou's wounds… and he always looked so sad when I did, so… I hummed to cheer him up," he smiled at the memory, enhanced since he was 'nursing' Marik's 'wounds' at this moment, "he always liked it when I sang… and humming's pretty damn close to singing, so he smiled…"

After this confession he glared at the Egyptian. "I hate you Marik…" he said with _clear_ dislike in his voice.

"… Why?" Marik had to ask, though he had a feeling he already knew the answer.

"Because," Bakura started, looking back at the bitten arm, "I've told you something personal to me, something I've never told anyone else… and then you throw it back at me -"

"I'm sorry for that," Marik interrupted.

Bakura stopped washing the marks. "… What?" he asked, even though he had heard loud and clear.

Marik sighed. "You heard me you jerk…" he said, causing Bakura to grin, "I said I'm sorry… I shouldn't have said that. But to be fair, you provoked me," Marik couldn't help but defend himself at the end.

Bakura stared at the arm, staying completely still, then he said quietly: "Apology accepted," as his movements kicked back into gear and he started cleaning the wound again. _What the hell?_ Bakura thought to himself, _I _never_ accept apologies that quickly… I never accept apologies _ever_ actually, except his for some odd reason… He just sounds so, _sincere_ with his apologies, unlike most others who only say sorry because they know they should… Don't say sorry unless you mean it assholes! Though, I guess that's why I hate him. He's… different… than the others. More sincere, more honest… horribly so._

_Just like dad… yet, different…_

"As I was saying before I was so _apologetically_ interrupted," Bakura grinned at Marik who rolled his eyes, "you throw my words back at me and yet I still tell you more personal things…" he grinned at this time, "I guess you're just _perfect_ like that."

Bakura felt overjoyed as he saw a very, light pink blush appear on Marik's glaring face. "I told you to stop saying that word!"

Bakura chuckled, "Oh, I'm _so_ sorry dear, how about I hum again to make it up to you?"

Marik laughed. "I'd actually like that," he admitted.

Bakura smiled before he concentrated on Marik's arm again and started humming.

After a while though, Bakura said, "You know, this is the second time you've apologized to me, am I seeing a pattern here?"

Marik punched Bakura's shoulder playfully before sticking his tongue out at him. "If you weren't so moody and mysterious all the time I wouldn't have to apologize at all."

"No, you'd still have to."

"Shut up and hum."

Bakura laughed, all previous anger forgotten like a rainy day. It reminded him of his dad - he could always dissipate Bakura's anger in the matter of minutes…

* * *

"… and so I finally found my backpack in our doghouse," Anai finished telling Ryou a story as they sat down and drank their smoothies at Jamba Juice. "It was all torn up along with all my homework! And of course the teachers didn't believe the, "My dog ate my homework" story, so…"

Ryou had been laughing for a while at her story, and now she joined in. Anai liked Ryou's laugh, it was happy and sincere… And made her happy as well.

I know what you're thinking: "Is this the same shy girl that was having trouble saying even a few _words_ without stuttering or going quiet?" Well, it started when Ryou said:

"_Tell me something about you."_

_Anai looked at 'her' surprised and asked, "L-like what?"_

"_Well… do you have any brothers or sisters?" Ryou elaborated._

_Anai shook her head. "No, b-but I have a little brown lab… I love him to death."_

"_What's his name?"_

"… _Chocolate…" she admitted, causing Ryou to laugh. Anai giggled with 'her.' _

"_You _really_ love chocolate, huh?" he asked, remembering when they first met she had said, _"I really like chocolate!"

_She nodded. "Yeah… of course that's a typical girl stereotype…"_

_Ryou laughed again, and then noticed a candy store was coming up. "How about I buy you some then?"_

_Anai turned red. "Y-you'd buy me some ch-chocolate…?" she asked, surprised._

"_Sure!" Ryou said with a smile. He grabbed her hand again and tore over to the candy store, where they both bought a ton of chocolate, since they both liked it - _a lot_._

After that, Ryou wanted to hear more about Chocolate, so she began telling him stories about him; like how they rescued him from a shelter and how he's a little afraid of people - his previous owners had abused him… but he seemed to love Anai a lot, and of course the feeling was mutual. As she talked more about her dog, she stopped thinking and worrying about how it was just her and Ryou and even stopped stuttering. She became more at ease, happier, relaxed… It was nice not being so shy all the time, but when she thought about it, the only reason she _was_ shy was because…

Well, that's a story for another time.

Eventually, their half hour was up so they went over to Jamba Juice to wait for Amora. They knew she would be late - she always was, just an Amora thing that you didn't question. It was then that Ryou asked if Chocolate ever did something bad, so then she told him her chewed-up backpack story and he thought it was really funny.

And thus you are now caught up to the scene described prior.

"Did you get a detention?" Ryou asked, trying to stop laughing.

Anai was smiling. "Actually no, they said since I'm a 'good girl' that I could just turn it in tomorrow and have a few points docked for it being late… But it's better than getting a zero you know?"

"Yeah," Ryou agreed before taking another piece off his third chocolate bar and popping it in his mouth. "Hmm…" he said contentedly as the milky chocolate melted in his mouth. He couldn't help but notice that Anai talked about Chocolate with so much love… her dog, not the actual food. She was more comfortable talking about him, and it was nice to hear her talk without sounding nervous - hopefully she'd stay like this at school too… though Ryou doubted it. At least she _was_ being less nervous around him though.

However, she went right back to her shy, quiet, stuttering self when she saw Amora come up. Ryou felt a little disappointed at this, but what could he do about it…? It was just how she was…

"Hey gals!" she said, clapping Anai on the back as she arrived. Anai sipped her smoothie with her head down so that her bangs concealed her eyes. Ryou began to feel a little frustrated - so close to not being shy anymore…! But he smiled at Amora nonetheless, "Hey Amora-chan, we didn't know what smoothie you wanted so you still have to order it."

"That's fine, I'm not really hungry anyways…" it was then that she noticed the chocolate bars her friends had, "Hey! I want some chocolate! Can I have some? _Please?_"

Ryou chuckled, "Of course!" he said offering her some. She took it graciously with a big, "Thank you!" before stuffing the piece she received in her mouth. She savored the sweet taste before chewing it and swallowing, then she said, "Let's go look around some more - I'm sure you guys must have been sitting here forever waiting for me! Sorry about that by the way… mom's conditioner is _really_ hard to find," she told them as she held up a bag with the conditioner inside.

Anai was surprised that Amora had been telling the truth about the conditioner - she thought she had just said that to leave her alone with Ryou! Not that she minded so much now but…

Ryou just smiled and said, "Sure," as he stood up. He still had about half of his smoothie left, so he'd just carry it. He looked so… cute while holding his 'boy clothes' in one hand and drinking his smoothie in the other… Anai found she couldn't look at him for long, and Amora just started pushing them, "Let's go, let's _go!_"

"It's not like we're in a hurry Amora!" Ryou said as he almost tripped over his feet because of how forcefully he was being pushed.

"Sorry! I just want to check out that store over there!" she said gesturing to a store that appeared to sell items that you could engrave, like coffee cups and plates and trophy bases, etc.

"Do you want something engraved?" Ryou asked.

She smiled. "Oh, just a little something to torment Jounouchi with about his new girlfriend…"

Ryou raised an eyebrow. "Like what?"

Amora stopped pushing him and held her hands out as if she was holding a sign. "I was thinking something like: "Congratulations on finally asking Mai out! Way to go bro!"" she said excitedly.

Ryou laughed, feeling only a little sad when Amora was still avoiding eye contact. "You're so mean to him…" he said.

Amora stuck her tongue out, "Only 'cause I can be!"

They walked inside the engraving shop, and Amora immediately told the man watching the stand what she wanted to engrave on something and he said he had the _perfect_ piece for it. Amora was giddy with excitement, and Ryou just laughed - it was just so _funny_ how excited she was about it!

As Amora waited for the man to finish the engraving, Ryou and Anai just looked at all the pieces there were to engrave. Dolphin statues, little hearts, picture frames, snow globes, stars, etc. At one point, Ryou saw a little, bronze pyramid, and he instantly thought of Marik since he was from Egypt. He contemplated buying it for him, since he figured they _were_ friends, but he would have no idea what to engrave on it… "To Marik From Ryou" was just a _bit_ too cliché, and he didn't want it to sound corny or lame either… "Hey Anai," he asked, "if I bought this for Marik, what do you think I should engrave on it?"

Anai blinked at him and then her face saddened, though Ryou had no idea why… it actually surprised him how sad she looked. "Um…" she hesitated, "I'm sorry… I have no idea…"

Ryou smiled at her. "That's okay…" just then he thought of _something_ to put on there… it was a _tad_ funny, but it was also just a _little_ cheesy… it _might_ make him laugh… he decided to go with it. He grabbed the pyramid and walked up to the man at the counter who had just finished Amora's piece. It was a silver rose with her engraving on the stem curling into one of the petals. Ryou giggled at the 'present.' "That's _perfect_ Amora-chan!"

She smiled, "I know it is."

Ryou handed the man the pyramid and told him what to engrave on the bottom. When he was done, they left.

They walked around a little bit more, but Ryou stopped when he saw this really cool jacket in a store display window. It was imitation leather with a shiny, silver zipper along with stitches running in all directions all across it, making it look like it was put together with a ton of little pieces of leather, as well as a few, tiny, fashion holes near the end. There was a front pocket over the heart with a picture on it that made it look like the person wearing it had been shot - right through the heart. **(2) **Then ends had a frayed look, and it also had a high collar that could probably hide someone's mouth.

As soon as Ryou saw it, he just _knew_ he had to get it for Bakura! The only problem was, it was probably incredibly expensive… and he had already spent a fair amount of his money on the pyramid so…

"I'd offer to help you buy it," Amora said, noticing 'her' avid stare at the jacket, "but I don't have that much money left… mom's conditioner is pretty expensive… besides, I don't think it suits you anyway."

"I know that, but it's perfect for Bakura…" Ryou said.

"I don't have that much money either I'm afraid…" Anai spoke up shyly and apologetically, "This outfit I bought used up most of it… Sorry…"

"It's not your fault…" Ryou said. Just then, Ryou noticed Amora stifling laughs. "What's so funny?" he asked.

She smiled. "I'll show you. Come on! Let's go find that jacket!"

"But… I don't have enough money…?" Ryou said tentatively. He had an… odd feeling in the pit of his stomach caused by Amora's words.

The tomboy just smiled and said, "Trust me! You'll walk out of that store with that jacket! Now come on." She grabbed both of her friends' hands and ran inside, leaving her two passengers to hang on tight and try to keep up.

Soon, they found the rack that sold them. Since Ryou and Bakura were _twins_ and were about the same size, Bakura just being slightly bigger, Ryou tried on the jackets to try and find the right size. He soon found one that was just a _little_ too big on him, and then he looked at the price tag.

He was right, it _was_ expensive! How did Amora think he was going to be able to pay for this! He only had a third of what it was worth… "I don't have enough money," he said sadly.

Amora brightened for some odd reason. She turned her head side to side as if looking for something. Apparently she found it, because she smiled bigger and turned back to Ryou. "Okay," she whispered, though Ryou had no idea why, "now say exactly what you just said and exactly how you said it just a _little_ louder."

Ryou looked at her confused, but complied anyway. "I don't have enough money," he complained, louder, sadder.

Suddenly, a nice-looking brown-haired boy came up to them. "Hey," he said tentatively, "did I hear you didn't have enough money…?"

Ryou blinked at the man. "Yeah…" he said, confused, but then his eyes widened with a hint of worry clear in them, "did I bother you? I'm sorry… I'll be more quiet -"

The boy started laughing. "No!" he said, "You didn't bother me at all! I just overheard and, well… decided to help you out. If you want."

Ryou was even more surprised now. "You'd help me pay for it? You don't have to do that!"

He smiled. "I know, but I want to… so, is that for your boyfriend…?" he said, gesturing to the jacket Ryou was holding.

Ryou face turned erubescent and he shook his head furiously. "No! It's for my brother… I don't have a… a b-boyfriend…"

For some reason, the boy's face brightened and he said. "Oh! Interesting. So, how much do you need?"

Ryou told him how much he needed, and the boy gave him the amount plus a little extra! And he also gave 'her' something else - his phone number along with a name: "Minoru." Ryou stared at the seven numbers oddly before looking back at the boy.

"Feel free to call me anytime," Minoru said with a wink. Then he walked away.

Ryou stared after him, now knowing why he had given him his phone number and winked at him… "Why did he give me money…? And his phone number?" Ryou asked, dumbfounded.

Amora laughed at Ryou's innocence. "Guys will do anything for a pretty girl Ryou-chan! Didn't you know that?"

"… No…" Ryou said, still not understanding that well. So, he gave him money because he thought he was a girl? (He couldn't help but feel a little… pride loss at the "pretty girl" comment…) Why? Why would a guy give some random girl he just met money for something she couldn't buy? Ryou had never given some random girl money before…

"Oh, you poor dear," Amora interrupted Ryou's thoughts, "having to pay for everything yourself… ah well, let's buy the jacket and go home!" She walked ahead instead of pushing or dragging her friends this time, so Ryou and Anai just followed.

Ryou just kept staring at the phone number he just received. The events turned in his head…

Minoru thought Ryou was a girl, so when 'she' announced that 'she' didn't have enough money, he offered to give 'her' some… just because 'she' was… pretty…? And then he asked 'her' if 'she' had a… boyfriend…

Ryou's face enflamed as it all started to make sense. That guy was… _flirting_. That's what that was… so he gave 'her' his phone number because… he thought 'she'd' call and… ask him on a date or something…? _Oh crap…_ Ryou thought, _Do I have to call him now…? Am I obligated? I don't want this! Things were so much simpler when I was a guy…_

Ryou looked up at the girls. Now he felt guilty, because he had taken that guy's money on the assumption that he was just being nice, but did he really just want to go on a date with who he _thought_ was a girl…? Did he just… _steal_ this from him…?

But… it was _his_ choice to give 'her' money… he should have made a condition: "You can have this if you promise to call me" or something like that… Of course, was the paper with his phone number on it condition enough? Did the guy expect him to call…? Why the hell would he call a complete stranger! Did girls actually do that?-? Anai and Amora didn't seem that surprised… Was this an everyday thing that Ryou never knew about?-!

Ryou began to feel sick.

_What should I do?_ Ryou thought, _I don't want to call him! For one thing, _I'm not even a girl_!-!-! And another thing - I don't want another relationship right now! I'm barely over my last _girl_friend… _

In the end, Ryou decided the best thing to do would be not to call. After all, he hadn't _meant_ to make that guy give him money, and he wasn't a girl so… to call him up would probably be very mean actually…

Ryou stuffed the name and number in his pocket, paid for the jacket, and left to go home with Amora and Anai. He'd talk with Bakura about this when he got home…

* * *

"Now comes the _fun_ part of the plan!" Bakura said as they now sat pretzel style on Bakura's bed in his bedroom, "Calling you!"

"… That sounds _so_ weird, you realize that right?"

"Yeah yeah, whatever."

Marik shook his head slightly, and he noticed again how nice this room actually looked… The walls were white with a red top border, and the ceiling, carpet, and bed was navy blue. He also had a dark-wood desk that had a ton of papers and other trinkets on it that matched a dark-wood dresser. The closet door was closed, but Marik was sure that it was a typical, messy, teenager closet. He had managed to keep the floor clean though, it seemed he liked to dump everything on his desk instead.

He had the home phone in his hand because he didn't have a cell phone apparently, but before he dialed any numbers he cleared his throat. "Okay," he said, "first I need to get my Otogi impression down… tell me if this sounds like him: "Want to go on a date with me princess?"" Bakura asked in a dead-on impersonation of Otogi's voice. He even mastered the cocky overconfidence, but that might just because he's pretty cocky and overconfident himself, so it wasn't _that_ impressive, but it was still _very_ impressive.

Marik's eyes widened. "It sounds just like him! How do you do that?"

Bakura smiled. "Practice… I can even copy my mom's voice."

"Yeah right," Marik challenged.

Bakura smirked. "My choir teacher didn't want me to be a soprano for nothing you know."

Marik snickered. "Whatever, so… what exactly are you going to say with this phone call?"

"I'll just do a run through, I should probably practice more anyway." He cleared his throat again before saying: "Hey… Marik? This is Otogi…" Bakura managed to say hesitantly. Marik's eyes widened - he couldn't listen to this without imagining it was Otogi actually saying it to him. It was _reeeeaaaallly_ creepy! "I know this may sound odd… but… I… I've liked you for a really long time and…" Marik's mouth dropped open with how… _perfect_ Bakura was doing this! And so easily too… If his eyes were closed, he would honestly think Otogi was saying this to him…

Again, it was _reeeeeaaaaaallly_ creepy!-!

"I was wondering if you'd…" Bakura continued in Otogi's voice, "… if you'd… like to go on a date, this Saturday at seven… I'll pick you up. Just… call me back. Okay, bye.

"So how was that?" Bakura asked, done with his message. He smiled as he saw Marik's jaw hanging open. "I'm guessing it was good…?" he asked jokingly.

Marik snapped his mouth shut and buried his head in his hands, "This is _so_ awkward for me…" he told the boy sitting across from him, "The fact that I'm actually picturing Otogi saying those words is enough… and then I _see_ you saying them… it's confusing. Confusing, awkward, and _creepy!_"

Bakura laughed. "Get used to it, 'cause I have to say it again. What's your phone number?"

"I'll type it in," Marik said as he held his hand out for the phone.

Bakura listened to the dial tone as he waited for Marik's voicemail to pick up, he couldn't help but roll his eyes though when he found out his ring tone was a plain old ringing phone, and he had to stop himself from laughing when he heard his answering machine: "Hey, this is Marik. If you're getting this message, that means that either my phone is off, I didn't hear it, I can't answer right now, I don't feel like talking, I know who's calling and am ignoring them, or it's a number I don't know and don't want to answer. If it's the last one, who are you and why are you calling? If it's one of the first ones, leave your name, number, and message and I'll get back to you when I can. If I'm ignoring you, don't expect a call - in fact, don't even leave a message."

Bakura was sure that if he could he would _actually_ be rolling on the floor laughing - that is _exactly_ what he wants his answering machine to be when he gets a cell phone, until then Ryou keeps changing the answering machine when he did anything like that.

He quickly had to pull himself together to do the Otogi impression, so he couldn't laugh like he wanted. However, as soon as he hung up he burst out laughing, leaving Marik to stare at him like a madman. "What the hell is wrong with you now?" he asked.

"Your answering machine," Bakura answered, "it's hilarious! That's exactly what I want mine to sound like when I get a cell phone."

"I don't get it," Marik said, "you have a laptop, but no cell phone?"

"My dad was going to get us cell phones when we were in high school, but then he kind of… you know, died… and my aunt says that we don't need cell phones so she won't let us get them."

"Wow, that's… stupid."

"Right? Well anyways, that's all we can do for the plan today…" Bakura smirked, "get ready for tomorrow~!"

Marik groaned. "When I have to act like everything I'm not and hate…"

"Yeah, so… get out," he said blatantly.

Marik snickered. "You don't sugarcoat _anything_ do you?"

"Why should I? Now leave my house before Ryou comes back.""Aw, but I want to see him!"

Bakura grinned. "Don't you mean 'her?'"

Marik glared. "No, no I don't."

Bakura stood up off his bed and then turned around with a devilish smirk and held his hand out. "Allow me to escort the _princess_ out?"

Marik glared. "Not if _you're_ the prince."

"I'm not the prince - I'm the thief," Bakura's eyes glinted, "the thief that steals princess' hearts."

Marik rolled his eyes. "Can I talk to the dragon? I'm sure he's a much better talker than you."

Bakura laughed, but then he grabbed Marik's arm and just pulled him off the bed. "I'm not kidding around anymore - _get out_."

"You know," Marik said as he regained his balance from being pulled, "most people try to keep the guest at their house as long as possible - you seem to be doing just the opposite."

"Don't care."

"I see that."

Marik tore his arm out of Bakura's grip and then walked out, grabbing his backpack that was on the couch on his way. He couldn't help but look at the faded bite marks on his arms… Isis was going to kill him. At least Bakura's black eye had become more pronounced despite his treatments on it. It _especially_ stood out on that porcelain skin of his. Marik grinned at the thought, and then chuckled at how Ryou would react towards the injury.

Soon he made it outside the door, but before he left Bakura said, "Wait Marik."

Marik turned around and raised an eyebrow. "What?" he asked, wondering what was running through this insane man's head now.

Marik's heart skipped a beat and his face enflamed when Bakura brought his smirking face dangerously close to his and said, "I just want you to know that I think you're… _perfect_," and then slammed the door right in his face. Marik blinked at the door for a few seconds, his face still noticeably red, but then he felt anger course through him when he heard Bakura's manic laughter. He pounded on the door, "You _BASTARD!_"

"Not my fault you can't control your hormones! I just exploit the fact!"

Marik growled, but then turned and started walking back to his house. He was grumbling angrily to himself, thinking of many, many ways to get back at Bakura, but none of them plausible or… legal, until he saw Ryou walking with Amora and Anai.

Anai was her shy self as usual: head down, hands behind her back, listening to the other two talk but not joining in. Amora was dominating the conversation as usual, and Ryou was smiling and laughing. _He looks so beautiful when he's laughing…_ Marik thought, but the his eyes went wide and his face flushed again as he realized exactly what he had said.

He walked over to them, hearing Amora's loud voice telling Ryou: "If you want to help me with my love quests," she said, "then you need to get into the 'who likes who' business! You _do_ want to help me right?"

"It would be nice to see people get together," Ryou agreed, "but I'm just so _bad_ with the 'who likes who' thing. You said yourself that three people like me and I have _no_ idea who they are… but I'd love to help you actually get them together."

Amora smiled. "Well…" it was then that she noticed Marik and smiled, "Well, looks like Marik can walk you the rest of the way home! Right Marik-san?"

Marik blinked at the sudden request, but then smiled. "Sure, I'd love to," he said.

"Oh, you don't have to do that," Ryou said politely, "I don't want to - _what happened to your arms?-!_" Ryou exclaimed, pointing at the many bite marks, "D-did Bakura _bite_ you?-! I am so sorry!"

Marik smiled brightly and chuckled at Ryou's sincerity. "It's fine, _you_ don't have to apologize. Besides, he has a black eye and a few bruises so it's all good."

Ryou didn't look like he felt any better. He sighed, "Why…?" he said simply.

Amora patted Anai on the back and said, "I'll take Anai-chan home! You two have fun~!" she said with a suggestive smile and a wink at Marik before turning Anai around and running away.

Ryou stared after the two girls with a small smile before sighing. It was then that Marik noticed that Ryou seemed a little… depressed. But about what?

Time seemed to stand still for a few seconds before Ryou took out a piece of paper from his pocket and stared at whatever was written inside. "Marik," he asked, "if someone gives you their phone number, should you call them?"

"Huh?" Marik blanked, "Um… it depends if you want to." _Who gave him their phone number? _Marik couldn't help but wonder just a little… jealousy.

Ryou sighed. "Well… today I wanted to buy something at the mall, but I didn't have enough money, so Amora told me to say that just a little louder than necessary and then some guy offered to help me pay for it and then he asked if I had a boyfriend and when I said no he gave me his phone number…! So… do I have to call him now? I don't know what to do about it!" Ryou complained at the end.

Marik started to fret as he looked at how frustrated Ryou was over this whole thing. He wanted to comfort him but… how? He took a step forward but then stopped - what was he going to do, hug him?

That was exactly what he did when Ryou turned to him with water glistening in his eyelids - he wrapped his arms around Ryou's small body and held him close, not helping it when his heartbeat increased just a little. He felt a fluttering in his stomach when Ryou hugged him back though - it was obvious he needed a hug. "It's okay Ryou," Marik said, realizing that this must be awkward for a boy to receive a phone number from a boy because he thought he was a girl… that was another confusing sentence. "You don't have to call him - it's your choice. Frankly, he shouldn't be giving strangers his number like that…"

Ryou giggled and then looked up at Marik, arms still wrapped around each other. "Is it true guys will do anything for a pretty girl…?" he asked innocently. "Um…" Marik said awkwardly, "it really… depends…"

Ryou nodded like he understood. "Okay… am I pretty?" the curious boy asked, meaning nothing by it of course - just wondering.

Marik, however, couldn't stop it when his face turned crimson. "Well uh… yes…" he admitted.

Ryou nodded a bit sadly. So he _was_ a pretty girl…? Fantastic… "Oh!" he exclaimed suddenly, getting out of the embrace and reaching into a bag he had around his shoulder, "I forgot - I bought this for you!" Ryou held out a shiny, bronze pyramid in his hand and offered it to him, "Here! Take it!" he said happily.

Marik blinked at it but then smiled. _A pyramid - 'cause I'm from Egypt right? Funny…_ he laughed before saying happily, "You really didn't have to do that…" He's known Ryou for, how long? A few days? And he already buys him something? Why? _Does he maybe… like me too? _Marik thought, _No, no that's stupid! He's just being nice…_ But even though he told himself that he had a hard time believing it, but he put that thought aside as he took it from him. "Thanks…" he said.

"There's an engraving on the bottom," Ryou told him, pointing at the pointy gift.

Marik turned it over. Sure enough, written right in the middle of the base were the words:

_I saw this and thought it'd be perfect for you…Thanks for being our friend!~Bakura Ryou_

Marik almost cracked up at the word "perfect" in the first line. That word just keeps popping up doesn't it? And he had no doubt that the 'our' was him and his twin - of _course_ he'd include Bakura in _his_ gift. Although, Marik didn't know this, but Ryou _was_ really thankful that Marik was becoming Bakura's friend - he really needed one of those… So he just had to thank him somehow for that, and what better way than a permanent engraving?

Marik held the pyramid close to his chest, "I love it. Thank you Ryou-san."

Ryou smiled brightly. "Don't mention it. I should probably be getting home though…"

"Right! I'll walk you," Marik said as he put the thoughtful gift inside his backpack before he and Ryou started walking towards the house he had just left.

Ryou took another piece of paper out of his pocket. "Pegasus wants me to audition for this," he told Marik, handing him the exact same flier Pegasus had handed to him, "what do you think?"

Marik stared at the paper before grinning. If they both auditioned for the play and made it, they'd be able to spend some time alone together… Without any overprotective brothers nearby. He handed it back to Ryou. "It's up to you, but if you decide to I'll audition with you."

"Really?" Ryou asked surprised, "You don't have to do that!"

"No it's fine, I'd like to try out too, but I wouldn't know anyone there so…" Marik quickly lied. Well, it was only half a lie… he'd _really_ like to try out if Ryou was going to be there, but if it wasn't for that he wouldn't even consider it.

Ryou blinked at Marik and then smiled. "Okay! We can try out together," he said.

Marik smiled. "I'd like that… It's bound to be fun. Can't wait."

"Maybe I could get Bakura to audition too…" Ryou said more to himself than to Marik.

"I don't think that'd be a good idea," Marik said quickly, "he doesn't really seem like the 'play' type."

Ryou thought. "I guess… but he's pretty good at acting…"

"I just don't think he'd be interested," Marik tried to dissuade him.

Ryou closed his eyes in concentration and then opened him. He smiled weakly, "You're probably right…"

They walked in silence for a bit, before Marik decided to be bold and reach out to hold Ryou's hand. He was so nervous while doing it - he could hear his heart thumping in his ears, but Ryou didn't seem to care much. Guess he was used to holding hands…

Which, he was. Ryou found it completely natural to hold someone's hand if you were walking right next to each other and knew each other. Besides, he liked Marik - he was a good person, so he didn't think it weird for him to hold his hand, just like he didn't think it weird of Bakura when he held his hand.

Marik on the other hand… (no pun intended) felt like a nervous wreck. For one thing, Marik hadn't been entirely sure that he liked Ryou, he knew it was a crush, but he didn't know if it was… _real_ so to speak. But the more Marik knew about Ryou - how nice he is, how considerate, how funny - the more Marik began to really… _like_ him. So holding hands was actually a big deal for him, and when it seemed like Ryou didn't care one way or the other, it was really… nerve-racking. Did Ryou like him like that at all…? He _did_ give him a pyramid… but, if you _did_ like someone, even just a little, wouldn't you be a little flustered if you held their hand? Although it seems Ryou doesn't care about holding hands… Marik remembered when he held both his _and_ Bakura's hand at the same time… so to him was it just completely normal? Didn't he realize the implications if a boy and a 'girl' held hands? Of course he _is_ a boy, so maybe he just forgot…? But still, the implications are usually stronger if a boy and a boy held hands so… did he just not _care?_ Or did he really just not like Marik at all that way…? Marik felt his heart sink just a _tiny_ bit from that thought.

Eventually they made it back to Ryou's house, and he turned to Marik with a smile. "Thanks for walking me home, and again I apologize for the bite marks on your arm… I'll have a talk with Bakura later for that."

Marik smiled at him, managing to put a stop to his nervous feelings about holding hands as he let go of Ryou's hand, "No problem, and again _you_ don't have to apologize."

Ryou shrugged before walking up to his house. He turned around before opening the door, "And thanks for helping me earlier… with my questions about the phone number…"

"No problem," Marik said, before he got an idea. "Ryou, wait," he said before taking a piece of paper and a pen out of his backpack. He wrote something on it and then handed it to him.

Ryou looked at it before a light pink blush appeared on his face. Marik smiled at how adorable Ryou looked like that. "Is this…?" Ryou asked.

"My phone number? Yeah," Marik answered his unasked question. "If you want to call someone, call me," he finished with a wink, although he immediately chastised himself, _Why the hell did I wink?-! Idiot! That's _obviously_ flirting then!_ but instead of letting his thoughts show he just kept smiling, watching with delight as Ryou's face went more red.

Ryou laughed nervously. "Um… sure, yeah… okay… I'll call you, uh…" Ryou stammered. He had no idea why the hell he was so nervous - Marik was probably just trying to make him feel better about the other phone number he got… in a weird, confusing way. Surely he wasn't… _flirting_ with him too? But what if he _was?_ Oh this was great - _if _Marik liked him too, he still thought he was a she, so the crush wasn't true! Now Ryou felt even more guilty… "I'll call you," he repeated, still flustered and horribly guilty, "uh… sometime…"

Marik chuckled. "Just, call if you have a problem… or if you just want to talk." _I had no idea I could be so smooth…_ Marik thought to himself. Though he had to admit, watching Ryou get so flustered over this was a great confidence booster.

"R-right… okay," Ryou finished before opening his door and walking inside. Marik stared at the door for a few seconds before walking away, a grin trying to fight it's way onto his face.

* * *

As soon as Ryou closed his front door he leaned his back against it and took a deep, _deep_ breath, letting it out _very_ slowly. He had found that it had become hard to breath outside…

He walked over to his couch and plopped down on it, face planted in a pillow. He felt like screaming his frustrations to the world, but who would listen? Especially since he brought them all upon himself? If he had just told the girls he was actually a boy and had taken the consequences, none of this would be happening! He wouldn't have to deal with Otogi, he wouldn't have to deal with random guys flirting with him and giving him their phone numbers, and Marik wouldn't like him because he would be a _boy_. But then, he probably wouldn't have all these great girls as his friend… and he really did enjoy hanging with these girls. They were all so great, so funny… they all had a story, Ryou could tell even if he didn't know what they were yet, and he wanted to get to know every single one. Wouldn't that be more difficult if he was a boy? But still… was dealing with all this other stuff worth it? All of this awkwardness, all of this flirting?…

Ryou's face became warm when he remembered Marik winking at him. He looked so… so hot then, Ryou had to admit, even though he wasn't used to it yet. What was wrong with him? He had thought he _loved_ his last girlfriend, but then she had cheated on him and effectively broken his heart, and after that he didn't think he would even be able to have another crush… let alone a crush on a _boy!_ But, was he possibly… crushing on Marik? And was Marik crushing on him? He _did_ say he was pretty…

"_I could name three people right now that have a crush on you,"_ Amora's words rang in his ears,_ "and you probably couldn't even name _one_, could you?"_

_Is… is Marik one of those three…?_

_No!_ Ryou told himself firmly, _That's ridiculous… he was just trying to make me feel better… it was just a nice gesture as a friend. Yes… a nice gesture and a compliment. That's it… Isn't it?_

Then he remembered that Bakura had said that "Ishtar likes him." So… was it true…? Or…

Ryou groaned to himself. Things were _much_ less complicated when he was a straight male. Now he was a possibly-bi female… or at least everyone _thought_ he was female, and everything just seemed to be going horribly wrong and bad… and confusing.

"What's wrong Ryou?" Bakura's voice interrupted Ryou's grief.

Ryou looked up from the couch and barely flinched when he saw Bakura's inevitable black eye since Marik already told him about it. "Everything," he answered honestly.

"Care to elaborate on that?" he asked as he sat down next to his favorite brother.

Ryou sighed before reaching into his pocket and handing Bakura a piece of paper. "At the mall today, some guy gave me their phone number."

Bakura froze as he stared at the paper. _Minoru,_ he thought, _what a crappy name…_ He felt anger wash over him and jealousy a familiar taste on the tip of his tongue. "Do you have any idea why?" he asked, since no one gives out their phone number for no reason. Ryou must have just been acting like himself and this "Minoru" person took it as flirting…

"Well," Ryou began, resting his head on the couch sideways so his voice could be heard, "I didn't have enough money to pay for something, and I happened to say that just a bit too loudly and this guy overheard and offered to help pay for it… and then he asked if I had a boyfriend and when I said no he smiled and gave me that paper…"

Bakura sighed. Ryou _had _just been acting like himself.

"And then Amora told me that guys will do anything for a pretty girl… is that true?"

"In most cases, yes."

Ryou sighed loudly. "Bakura, am I _really_ pretty…?" he said, using the word 'really' but with the meaning of 'actually,' not 'very.' Even though he had asked Marik this question not too long ago, he wanted someone else's opinion…

He didn't notice when Bakura blushed. "Well uh…" he hesitated, wondering how the hell he should answer this other than with: "You're the most beautiful thing I've ever seen." He decided to say instead: "For a girl… yes. If everyone knew you were a boy then… I'm sure you'd just look handsome."

Ryou sighed again, but then his face brightened. "Oh yeah," he said as he sat up and reached into the bag he had around his arm, "I got this for you!" He handed Bakura the jacket that had caused all this.

Bakura took the gift gingerly, not believing what he was seeing. He had seen this jacket advertised on TV and immediately wanted it, but he didn't have enough money… _neither_ of them had enough money, though Ryou_ was_ a better saver than him… And he _would_ have stolen it, but then he'd have to deal with one of Ryou's lectures since he would actually wear it and he realized it wasn't worth it. "Ryou," he said, still in shock, "this must have cost you a fortune!"

Ryou laughed nervously. "Well, this was the thing the guy helped me buy…" he admitted.

Bakura looked at it, a little angry that this was the gift that caused Ryou so much grief, but then he resisted the urge to smile as the thought that this gift was almost stolen came to him. He hugged his little brother. "Thanks Ry - I love it."

Ryou hugged him back, a big smile on his face. "You're welcome, I knew you'd like it!"

They separated, and then Bakura asked Ryou, "Want to read Otogi's diary?"

Ryou rolled his eyes. "You mean the fake one you and Marik made?"

"Nope!" Bakura exclaimed with a grin, "he had an actual diary!"

Ryou blinked at him. The offer was… actually very tempting, especially when he thought of all he had done to him, but he decided against it. "No thanks."

"Okay, but I _have_ to tell you this. Turns out, Otogi's crushing on Marik!"

Ryou blinked. "Are…" he started, completely shocked out of his mind, "Are you _sure?_"

"According to his diary!"

"B-but… Marik _hates_ him!"

"I know!"

Ryou couldn't believe it - Otogi liked Marik? But… he acted like such a homophobe! Was it just to cover up his own feelings…? That must be it… Ryou couldn't help but feel bad for Marik - how awful to deal with someone who loves you but you don't and won't ever feel the same way… he was glad he didn't have anyone like that in his life **(3)**. "It must be awkward for Marik…" Ryou commented.

"Who cares? In a few days, you and Marik won't have to worry about Otogi ever again!"

Ryou smiled at the thought. He had to admit, that would be very nice… "Well, I think I'm going to go turn in," Ryou announced, "I've had a _long_ day, and it looks like you have too…" he said, pointing to Bakura's black eye. "What _happened_ anyways?"

"Me and Marik got into a little fight - don't worry about it," he smirked, "you know me, always fighting."

"Isn't that the truth…" Ryou agreed, "I just can't believe you bit him! Why would you do that?"

"Oh, you saw him eh?" Bakura asked rhetorically, "Well, he made me really mad… so I bit him."

Ryou sighed. "Whatever, I'm going to bed," he stood up, "Night."

"Night."

Ryou walked up half the stairs before turning around and saying, "And I've decided to try out for the school play. After all, it won't be _so_ bad now that Marik said he'll join too." He walked up the rest of the stairs, leaving Bakura to stay standing completely still in the living room. _"What?"_ he asked, realizing Marik must have talked to Ryou for a fair while before he got home, _"WHAT?-!"_ This was very bad…! If Marik and Ryou both made it into the play (and he had no doubt in his mind that they would) then he wouldn't be able to keep an eye on the Egyptian girly boy to make sure he didn't try anything!

_I'm going to _kill_ that boy!_ Bakura thought angrily with his eye twitching.

Meanwhile, Ryou was getting ready to take his shower and then go to bed. He emptied his pockets and put them on his nice, clean, wooden desk, but he couldn't help but stop and stare at Marik's phone number… His fingers itched to dial the number, though he wasn't entirely sure why…

He decided he'd call tomorrow. Maybe. Probably. Definitely.

* * *

**(1)**: I LOVE JAMBA JUICE. IT IS THE BOMB! ! ! =DDD Sadly, I'm not sure if they're in Japan… but I just love it too much not to include it in here.

**(2)**: *singing* "Shot through the _heart! _And _you're_ to blame! You give lo~ove… a bad name!" XD I love that song~! =)

**(3)**: Are you sure about that Ryou? Are you _reeeeaaaallly_ sure? XD Lol, I am so mean…

**Hm… I like the end of this chapter just a little bit better than my previous ones! And um… PLEASE DON'T KILL ME!-!-! Please? I'm SO sorry they haven't gotten to actually carrying out their plans on Otogi yet… but these scenes were important!-! (At least I think they are…) I've had them planned since I thought of this (I just didn't know it would be so long ^^") so… yeah… they'll actually carry out the plans next chapter! I PROMISE!-!-!**

**This chapter makes me feel so evil! *evil cat grin* Can anyone tell me the deal with Anai? I think I've made it pretty obvious now… LadySunami already knows it XD And tell me what your favorite part was! Personally, mine is when Ryou received Minoru's phone number… XDDD and when Bakura told Marik that stuff about his past and hummed (and of course I liked all the other unofficial-ThiefShipping in here 'cause I am such a thiefshipper *sideways glance* gomenasai…) I had the idea of Bakura humming while cleaning Marik's wounds planned since the beginning! **

**Also, please tell me if I did at least a fairly good job with the sort-of-AngstShipping part… I have mixed feelings about it.**

**And in later news: episode 53 of YGOTAS came out! AND LK MADE A PHINEAS AND FERB REFERENCE! (three actually) XDDD I am squealing with fan girl joy~! (I love that show XD more than you'll ever know… I CAN'T WAIT FOR THE MOVIE!-!-!)**

~~~{REVIEW REPLIES}~~~

**Cai**: I'm glad something Pegasus-heavy intrigued you! =) And I mean come on… what would YOU think if you were Pegasus…? XDD Lol, that was the point though: he understand Bakura and Marik scarily well, and really just… 'missed the mark' as you say on Ryou XDD  
Did you like the Thiefshipping here? XD I am such a fanatic… But Ryou DOES get a love interest, in fact, he gets three!-! :P XD And I plan on the word 'perfect' to pop up a _lot_. But it is cute when Marik gets flustered ^^  
I'm glad you like my stories! =D I kind of wish I knew who you were XD I don't know what you like about them so much, but I'm glad you do!  
Glad you enjoyed the Polarshipping (did you enjoy this chapter's too? XD) and thanks for reviewing! =)

**MadMadGurl**: ME TOO! If the counselor's in my school were like Pegasus I'd talk to them about EVERYTHING! (and that sounded weird too, didn't it? XD)  
Glad you like my story! Thanks for reviewing! =)

_**BY THE WAY!**_ **Recently, I decided to create a facebook page for my fanfiction profile, a page you can "Like" but not "Friend." I made it so that I could give out secrets and spoilers to my stories, and talk to my FF buddies easier =). I didn't make it because I thought a lot of people would "Like" it, I made it for the previous stated reasons. Sorry if I sound conceited, that was not my intention. The page is called "Annzy" with a cute picture of Ryou :3 Search for it in the "Pages" section. I'll try and put up a video where I talk about Ryou's School Life (RSL) but I really don't know what to tell you guys other than what you already know…**


	9. Plans, Activate! Plans, Abort?

**I hope you all enjoy this chapter~! In this, the first part of the plans commence! Haha~! =) **

**I do warn however; my OCs have taken on a bigger role than I originally anticipated... I hope that doesn't upset anybody, and if it does, I'm sorry, but you know you don't _have_ to read this... just saying. **

**GET READING! **

Chapter 9: Plans, Activate! Plans, Abort?

* * *

Ryou woke up the next morning to hear his brother's humming carry throughout the house. Ryou smiled, sat up in his bed and stretched, a yawn soon passing through his lips. He got out of bed, walked over to his closet, and started to get dressed, wondering why Bakura was so happy this morning… and then he remembered.

The plan was today.

The plan_**s**_ were today.

Ryou sighed as he stared at the "boy clothes" the girls had found him. He had to admit though, he _did_ like the clothes, but he couldn't wear them… not yet…

After a while, he walked downstairs in a plain, medium-blue T-shirt with black pants to see Bakura flipping a pancake up in the air and humming a happy-sounding tune. He still had a black eye, but it was fading. "Good morning Ryou-_chan_," he greeted with a devilish smirk as he caught the pancake and put it back on the burner, "isn't today a _perfect_ day?" Even though Bakura knew Ryou wouldn't get the joke, he was determined to use the word 'perfect' as often as possible to annoy Marik, so better get practicing right?

Ryou smiled at Bakura, "You're happy… I'm kind of worried."

"What? I can't be happy?"

"No, you can be happy all you want, as long as you don't burn the pancakes," Ryou said as he sat down and pointed to the pancake that had started smoking (Bakura was impatient so he had the burner as high as it would go).

Bakura switched the burner off and smirked at Ryou before taking the pancake pan and flipping the pancake so that it would land right in front of Ryou. He blinked at the pancake, "Wow Bakura!" he said with a smile, "That was amazing!"

Bakura smiled. "Perfect," he muttered under his breath before turning around to make another pancake.

Ryou tore a piece off from his and started eating it. "So when did you get up anyway?"

"Get up? I never went to bed - I was too excited."

"You sound like a child on Christmas morning," Ryou commented with a laugh.

"Whatever, but I tell you Ryou - today's gonna be the best day _ever!_ At least for me."

Ryou sighed as he munched on his pancake. "Today's probably going to be the _worst_ day ever for me…"

Bakura turned with a raised eyebrow. "Why?"

Ryou smiled sadly. "The girls' plan starts today too… actually, _Monday_ will be the worst day ever for me…"

"Again, _why?_"

"Because I have to do something…"

Bakura rolled his eyes. "If you don't want to tell me what it is just say so."

"I don't want to tell you what it is."

"But why _noooot?_" Bakura mock-whined before fake pouting and then turning back to his pancake.

Ryou shook his head at his brother's immaturity. But he was used to it, after all - he grew up with the guy. He knew all about him - his weaknesses, his strengths, his quirks, his ticks, his likes and dislikes, everything. And of course, _sometimes_ he could use that to his advantage… not that he did so often, just when it was required. He was sure Bakura knew all about him as well, as siblings often do, but he never really used any of the knowledge against him… Which was weird, considering whenever he found out something he could use against someone he used it _all the time_. "So," Ryou said as he put some more pancake in his mouth, "why is today gonna be the best day ever?"

Bakura smirked. "Oh, do you _really_ want to know…?" he asked in such a way that made Ryou a little wary of finding out the answer, but that also made Ryou want to know the 'why' even more.

"… Yes," he finally responded hesitantly.

Bakura flipped another pancake, and Ryou couldn't help but notice that he looked really… _natural_ doing it… "Well, you know how I told you Otogi likes Marik?" Bakura said.

"Yes, why?" Ryou found himself staring at Bakura's flipping arm, it was almost starting to hypnotize him.

"Well, the next step of our plan involves Marik flirting with Otogi and asking him out," Bakura smirked, "can you just _imagine_ what Otogi's face will look like? It's going to be hilarious!" Bakura was so enthusiastic with his thoughts that he flipped his next pancake a little too forcefully and landed halfway on his head and halfway on his face.

The kitchen was frozen for a few seconds before Ryou burst out laughing. Luckily all the batter had turned solid so no liquid had landed on him, but it was still funny.

Soon a growl was heard from Bakura, and a scowl was revealed as he tore the pancake off his head. "It's. Not. Funny!" he seethed at Ryou, who was still laughing.

"A-at least you didn't burn it!" Ryou choked out, "That pancake is _yours_ brother."

Bakura rolled his eyes. "_Obviously_," he said as he tore it in half and shoved one piece in his mouth. They didn't really like syrup, they felt that the pancake was already tasty enough without adding more sweetness. Though Ryou loved to add fruit to his pancakes, but they didn't have any good 'pancake fruit' at the moment.

"Who knows," Ryou continued with a smile, "maybe pancakes can help black eyes!"

Bakura stuck his tongue out at his brother, "Yeah, and maybe I won't make you any more."

"Aww…" Ryou said with mock-sadness to which Bakura rolled his eyes to. They _both_ knew Ryou would get more pancakes.

After they were done eating their breakfast (and Ryou stopped laughing at the memory of Bakura sporting a pancake hat), they left to go to school - Bakura wearing the jacket Ryou had bought him yesterday. He really did love the thing.

Ryou spotted Marik fairly easily, since today he decided to wear a long-sleeved red jacket with white stripes on the arms that reminded him strangely of football… And he also looked extremely furious, though of course Ryou had no idea why. "What's wrong Marik-san?" he asked once he was in ear-shot.

Marik glared at Bakura, but he still answered Ryou's question. "I'll _show_ you what's wrong!" he said as he rolled his sleeves up, revealing small bite-mark scars across his arms. "Look at my arms Bakura!" he yelled, "_LOOK AT MY ARMS!-!_"

Bakura blinked at them, and a smile threatened to appear on his face. Ryou just stared at the marks with wide eyes and open mouth. How hard did Bakura bite him?-! But he had to admit that the scars looked kind of cool actually, they didn't really look like _bite_ marks so much as just… little cuts or scars. They screamed 'danger,' and they reminded him of when Bakura showed up at the house with little wounds like that.

It was oddly attractive, Ryou found himself admitting.

"Well," Bakura finally said, trying to retain laughter, "that's certainly… hilarious."

"_I'll kill you!_" Marik screamed, "I actually managed to hide the marks from my sister when I got home yesterday, certain they'd be gone by now, and then she absolutely _freaked_ when she saw them this morning! She insisted that I wear this stupid red jacket…"

"Why don't you wear a different jacket if you think it's stupid?" Ryou asked, having to tear his eyes away from Marik's arms to look at his face.

Marik turned to Ryou and rolled his eyes. "She says I need to wear more "appropriate" clothes and handed me this. She wouldn't take no for an answer…" _Plus, she _is_ in charge…_ Marik thought to himself grudgingly.

"I told you that you look like a prostitute," Bakura commented.

Marik glared at him. "I am not talking to you right now _little man_," Marik said, bringing attention to the fact that Bakura was shorter than him, which he knew he'd hate.

But instead of him scowling or glaring like Marik had thought, Bakura just smirked. "Geez, huffy much Princess Perfect?" he retorted.

Marik seethed at him for the combination of the words 'princess' and 'perfect,' but then smirked, "Hey, look in the mirror pal? You're eye's so swollen I'm surprised you can see out of that thing."

Bakura scowled. "It's not that swollen, there's just a little bruise there."

Marik chuckled. "Whatever makes you feel better 'Kura," he said before walking off to school.

Ryou gave Bakura a look. " 'Princess Perfect?' " he questioned. He had heard Bakura call a lot of people a lot of weird things, but that one sounded just a bit too… personal? Ryou didn't know, but it sounded different than his usual names.

Bakura smirked. "Don't worry your pretty little head about it sister dear."

Ryou smiled. "I'm not _worried_ about it," Ryou said slyly, "it just sounds a little…" he whispered the next word so that only Bakura could hear, "_intimate_ don't you think?"

Bakura glared at Ryou. "It's a name that annoys Marik, there's nothing "intimate" about it."

"Whatever floats your boat 'Kura!" Ryou chirped happily. **(1)**

Bakura growled, but had nothing to add.

They kept walking along, and Ryou couldn't help but stare at Marik's arms. He hadn't rolled his sleeves down yet, and the sun glinted off the marks in such a… such a… _mesmerizing_ fashion. And during his mesmerizing feelings, he couldn't help but briefly think about how he hadn't been acting like this yesterday when he saw them… of course, he had had a lot on his mind that day, so it might have been drowning out the crystalline beauty of the indentations… They filled his eyes with the curves and indents, blocking out everything else… so he was surprised when he heard Marik's voice say, "Wh-what are you doing?" like he was flustered.

He snapped himself out of it, noticing that he had somehow crept closer and had been tracing some of the marks on his arms.

He took his hand away immediately, blushing light pink. "S-sorry…" he mumbled, "They just look… so…" Ryou stopped talking when he felt Bakura's hand on his shoulder. He turned to look at his older brother who had a _fierce_ expression on his face.

"Ryou," he said, his voice low and masking any emotion, "that's very rude you know…"

"I-I know…" Ryou said, noticing out of the corner of his eye that Marik's face was red, though he wondered why for he had no idea…

Though what Ryou didn't know was that Marik had been enjoying Ryou's gentle, tender, soft fingers tracing his wounds oh so gingerly just a little too much…

And Bakura could tell, oh he could _tell_.

"Sorry Marik," Ryou's voice broke through the tension, "I must be tired," he said with a small laugh to try and lighten the situation.

Marik blinked before smiling as well, "Right…" _You can keep touching them if you want…_ he felt like saying, but somehow the emotionless face that Bakura was wearing was even scarier than his angry face, so Marik kept quiet.

The trio continued walking, all three feeling just a tad bit awkward after that…

Bakura just couldn't help but smolder at the memory of Ryou stroking Marik's arms like that… What the hell?-! He had never thought _Ryou_ of all people would do something so… _bold_. But when he thought about it… Ryou had always had a thing for touching scars and 'battle wounds.' Whenever Bakura came home with marks, Ryou always traced them, as if he could heal the wounds with a simple touch… So really, Bakura shouldn't have been surprised when Ryou started tracing Marik's bite marks, they probably reminded him of when he came home with those types of bruises.

Bakura sighed. _At least it's Friday…_ he thought, trying to bring himself to have happy thoughts.

They walked on in silence for a while, then Bakura asked Marik with a smirk, "So, do you know what you're going to say to Otogi?"

Marik groaned. "Yeah, I planned it out last night… You're gonna get one hell of a show you sicko."

Bakura chuckled maliciously, full of anticipation to see this so-called "show."

"Can I watch too?" Ryou asked, curious as to what he would say.

Marik shrugged, "I suppose, just _please_ keep in mind that anything I say to that jerk is not _my_ thoughts or words, it's just acting. I am not to be taken seriously in any way, shape, or form."

Ryou scrunched his eyebrows together. "How… _different_ are you going to be acting?"

"Completely different," Marik said dejectedly.

"I can't wait!" Bakura said excitedly.

* * *

Classroom 9-A's teacher was writing something up on the board angrily, for he was thinking about how disrespectful students were nowadays. Just yesterday someone had been _doodling_ in class instead of taking notes! _Doodling!_ What indignity!

He then started erasing half of what was written because in his angry stupor his handwriting had gone from bad to worse until it was illegible. Just as he was starting to re-write the notes, this time in a calmer manner, he heard someone knock on his door. "Come in!" he called.

In walked a student from the other class, 9-B, and it was one of the new ones, with the white hair, and he had a black eye! But unfortunately, he had no idea who this was. "Hello Bakura-san," he said, since fortunately he could just call them by their last names, "what do you need with me?"

"Oh, I'm just here to inform you of one student in particular," he said cryptically, his mouth upturned into a somewhat sinister smile, though the teacher had no idea why. But his smile looked even more sinister with the black eye he sported.

However, he _did_ want to know about this "one student in particular," so he asked, "And who would this be?"

The student rolled his hand around in the air. "I hear that Ryuji Otogi likes to listens to music during class, and some of the songs could hardly be called _appropriate_," he drawled out the last word in particular.

The teacher was surprised. Ryuji was one of the top students… _He_ was being disrespectful in class? "Where did you hear this from?" he asked.

Bakura blinked. He hadn't been expecting that question… Although Pegasus _had_ told him that Otogi was one of the top students… Bakura swore to himself. Of course the teacher was unwilling to believe him! "Oh you know," he said, stalling, "a few of his classmates."

The teacher looked skeptical. Many times students have tried to get others in trouble for previous grudges. "What's your full name?"

"Bakura repeated," he said.

The teacher went back to writing on the board. He had heard that student was a troublemaker in his last one… he was known as a liar and was more prone to want to get a top student in trouble. "Well, I appreciate you telling me Bakura-san," he said, "you may leave now."

Bakura grumbled angrily to himself, but responded with an uncaring, "Whatever."

* * *

"… So don't take me seriously," Marik finished. He had just ended his tale of how he was going to embarrass Otogi because he didn't want a ton of questions bombarded at him later, at least not by his friends. He didn't really care about the rest –he could deal with those. Actually, he'd probably have fun messing with their minds and seeing the look of confusion on their faces. He smiled to himself at the image.

"Are you serious?" Yugi asked, trying to retain laughter, unlike his twin who was laughing openly, "You realize the rest of the student body will think that's the _real _you, right?"

Marik shrugged. "I don't really care about them. Besides, it'll be worth it to get back at Otogi finally," he finished with a smirk.

"I wish you luck," Anzu and Amora said.

Jounouchi and Honda echoed words of encouragement, but they were surprised at their friend's willingness to be everything he tried to get people to think he's _not_ just to get back at Otogi.

Ryou tugged on Marik's sleeve and whispered in his ear, "Are we going to tell them about Otogi's crush on you?"

"Nah," he whispered back, "that's unimportant."

"Sorry I'm late guys!" Kana-chan said as she walked up to the group, "Breakfast took longer than expected…" she looked at Marik, "Why are you wearing that jacket?" she asked, referring to the red jacket he was wearing.

Marik scowled. "One word: Bakura."

"What did he do?" Kana-chan asked. Marik had already told everyone else, to which they were surprised, but not really. When they thought about it, it seemed like those two would get into a fight that left 'battle scars.'

Marik lifted his sleeves once again. "This," he said, really not caring anymore… he actually began to think they looked cool now too, like Ryou thought.

Kana-chan's eyes bulged out. "What the hell?-!"

"That's what I said!" Amora informed her.

Kana-chan shook her head. "Sorry Ryou-chan," she said, looking at him, "but your brother is insane or something."

Ryou sighed, "I know."

Just then, the 'insane' teen showed up, showing everybody his black eye. But before anyone could ask him about it, he said urgently, "Ryou! Quick, where's Anai?"

Ryou blinked. "Huh? Why do you need her?"

"Because!" Bakura provided no further explanation, but the urgency in his voice was enough for Ryou.

'She' pointed down the hall, "She's by her locker –" before Ryou could say anymore, Bakura was off.

Jounouchi asked what everyone was thinking, "What was that about?"

"I don't know…" Marik and Ryou said in unison.

"I'm guessing you're responsible for the black eye?" Atem asked Marik with a smile.

Marik had a proud look on his face. "You bet'cha!" he said, crossing his arms in triumph.

"Nice," Jounouchi commented.

"So," Amora interrupted with a devious smile, "how did Mai's date with Otogi go last night?" she asked Jounouchi.

Everyone turned to look at him. His eye twitched as he said, "You girl… you _know_ she didn't actually meet up with him."

"I know," she smiled, "but _you two_ must have done something then right?"

Jounouchi crossed his arms. "You are not getting anything out of me!" he said forcefully.

Amora started poking him mercilessly, "Come on… we all wanna know!"

"Amora-chan," Yugi said, putting his hand on her shoulder, an amused smile on his face, "I think you should stop bothering him about Mai-san…"

Amora pouted. "Why?"

"Would you want us to continue torturing you if _you_ got a boyfriend?" Atem asked.

Amora pondered it. "I see your point…"

"Besides Amora-chan," Ryou said, "you've already gotten them together. You're mission is complete."

Amora pouted. "Can't I have a bit of fun?"

Ryou smiled. "Just find a new target."

Amora's eye twinkled. "Good idea!"

Ryou laughed, everyone else just groaned.

* * *

"S-sensei?" Anai called into 9-A's room.

The teacher looked up from his desk and smiled. "Sagaki-san!" he said happily – he liked Anai, she _never_ goofed off in class, was very respectful of _everyone_, and had _excellent_ grades. "Is there a problem?"

"W-well… not for me, but for someone else…" she admitted nervously, her face cast downwards and her hands behind her back in her usual shy pose.

"Oh?" the teacher said, "And who would that be?"

"W-well, I'm just worried… because someone keeps listening to music during class, and I don't want them to hinder their education…"

The teacher's eyes went wide. Was she saying what he had heard this morning…? "Is the student Ryuji-san?" he asked.

Anai nodded. "I know it seems as a shock to you… but it's true…"

The teacher's eyes went out of focus. Anai would never lie about this, her personality was a shy one, but with good intentions. She wants the best for everyone, and in this case she felt that telling the teacher about this _disrespectful_ behavior would be best.

The teacher's gaze hardened, but then he smiled at Anai. "Thank you Sagaki-san, I will take proper note and deal with this promptly."

Anai nodded. "O-okay Sensei…" she then left the room, walking up to Bakura who was waiting outside with a smile on his face.

"Thank you!" he said, "I knew that teacher didn't believe me…"

Anai sighed. "You _promise_ this will help Ryou-chan?"

Bakura nodded. "Definitely! I wouldn't lie to you Sagaki-san."

She waved her hand in the air, "You can call me Anai-san."

Bakura raised an eyebrow. "Your stutter's gone…" he noticed.

Anai sighed. "The history of my stutter is a long story…" she said.

"One that you don't want to tell?" he guessed.

Anai nodded. Bakura bobbed his head one, understanding completely. He had a lot of things he didn't want to explain to a lot of people as well.

"Well," Anai said, "I'm going to go by our friends…"

Bakura smirked. "I'll go too, but then I have something to take care of…"

* * *

Otogi slammed his locker loudly. He was in a _horrible_ mood. For one thing, Mai had stood him up on their date last night. He had looked like an idiot, especially since he showed up a half-hour early and waited an _hour_ after their designated arrival time before deciding she had played some cruel joke on him and left. For another thing, he had found out that _both_ his journal and MP3 had gone missing! He didn't care about the MP3 since he never really listened to it anyways, he mainly just had it because _everyone_ had _something_ to play music on, but his journal? … The thought of someone… _reading_ that, made his blood run cold. His reputation would be ruined… _Where could it be?-!_ he thought apprehensively to himself.

Just then, something black was shoved in his face. It took his eye a few seconds to focus on the object, and then he saw that it was his MP3. He grabbed the thing, and then looked at who had found it, his stomach churning with dismay and a touch of fear when he saw it was Bakura, but he smirked when he noticed the black eye. "What happened to you? Ran into a tree branch or something?"

Bakura pointed to his eye. "What, this? Just a simple wound left over from a fight. You should see the other guy."

"Oh, not a scratch on him?" Otogi asked.

Bakura smiled. "Actually, bite marks all over him."

"You _bite_ people?"

Bakura rolled his eyes. "Why does that surprise everyone? Anyways," he smirked and pointed at the music player, "I downloaded something… _special_ on that thing, you should listen to it."

Otogi narrowed his eyes and was about to put in his headphones when Bakura said, "Not yet – _during_ class."

"Why should I listen to you?"

Bakura smiled. "Because I have copies of a certain… _book_."

Otogi gave Bakura a questioning look, but then his face paled. "Y-you…"

Bakura smile deviously. "Yeah, me," he said as he took out Otogi's journal from under his jacket. "Interesting read. Very… _contradictory_."

Otogi's eyes widened. _He-he _read_ that thing!-!-!_ He took it back in a hurry, his face red. "Wha… how…?"

Bakura smiled. "You should really be more careful of where you leave your things, Otogi," Bakura said.

Of course, this gave Otogi the impression that he had dropped it or something, instead of the truth, which was that Bakura broke into his locker. Otogi swallowed the saliva in his mouth. "D-did you… show it to anybody?"

Bakura smiled. "Just one student in particular."

Otogi paled. "Who?" he asked, his voice on the verge of panic.

Bakura chuckled, enjoying the look on Otogi's face _way_ too much. "Oh, you'll see him this morning."

"_Him?"_ Otogi asked with alarm.

Bakura just walked away laughing after that, leaving Otogi to wonder: _Who the hell's read my journal?-!_

* * *

"Otogi-san~!" Marik's flittering voice rang through classroom 9-A as the sliding door slammed open. Otogi looked up at the Egyptian boy from his desk, his face paling. _No…_ he thought, _Bakura didn't… I thought they hated each other! … Which is exactly why he would show him my journal!-!_ the boy tried to hide his face, but since he had no books handy he used his hands, which is a very poor substitute for a book, or a newspaper for that matter.

Marik smirked to himself. This was going to be so much fun! He cast a smile at Ryou and Bakura, who were waiting by the door within hearing distance. Bakura seemed excited about what Marik was going to do, and Ryou just kind of shook his head in a way that said, "I don't really approve of this, but I know it'll be funny."

Marik gave them a courageous smile before stepping inside the classroom and slamming his hands down on Otogi's desk. "Otogi!" he said again. He couldn't help but notice how everyone turned to look at him, probably wondering, _What the heck?_ "I got your message~!" Marik decided to start with, giving Otogi a flirtatious smile.

Otogi gave him a confused look. "Message?" he asked, completely dumbfounded, "What message?"

Marik laughed. "Oh don't be so coy Otogi! You know, that message you left asking me out?"

Otogi's eyes widened and his face paled. Even though he knew he didn't do that, the fact that he announced it during class would just make all their classmates think he actually did! "What are you talking about?" he demanded angrily, "I never even called you! I don't even know your phone number!-!" He hoped his angry yelling would make everyone think he _hadn't_ called this faggot.

Marik just chuckled and took out his phone. "Isn't this your voice?" he asked before playing a message from his phone. "Otogi's" voice erupted from the small device, making everyone's eyes widen and making Otogi's face pale even more:

_"Hey… Marik? This is Otogi… I know this may sound odd… but… I… I've liked you for a really long time and… I was wondering if you'd… if you'd… like to go on a date, this Saturday at seven… I'll pick you up. Just… call me back. Okay, bye."_

Once the message was over, Marik was smiling "happily" and put the phone back into his pocket, trying really hard not to burst into cruel laughter at the expression on Otogi's face.

The homophobe looked absolutely _horrified_ and desperately confused, obviously not knowing how _his_ voice had ended up on _Marik's_ voicemail, but would the rest of the class believe him _now_ if he denied that was him? Of course not, but he was still going to try anyways. "Th-that wasn't me!" he cried, looking at his classmates in anguish. He felt dread grip his heart as no one would look at him, and the people who would were either smiling sadly and encouragingly at him or glaring at him.

Marik giggled (which was really hard for him to do mind you) and said, "_Sure_ it wasn't. I have to say Otogi, I didn't know you liked me so much," he brushed one of his fingers down the length of Otogi's arms, who tore his arm away with disgust (yet a touch of delight that he noted with horror), but that didn't stop a light blush from creeping up on his face. Marik just chuckled and continued, "Although I guess I shouldn't be so surprised; "You're mean to the person you like"!" he repeated that old wives' tale, smiling flirtatiously at Otogi and trying not to turn it into a smirk.

Otogi finally recovered from his shock and started stuttering, "I-I, I don't like you! You're the one that's fucking touching my arm!-! And I'm mean to you because you're a _faggot!_"

Marik put on a flirty, confused look, "Oh really? Then how come in your journal you said you couldn't hide these feelings you have for me anymore?"

Otogi's face flushed, which of course did not help cover up the truth of Marik's statement. This proved the fact that Bakura _did_ show Marik his journal… "Wh-what are you talking about? I don't have a journal, those are for weaklings."

Marik laughed and poked his nose, "Your cute face reveals the truth," it honestly killed him to call Otogi _cute_, but he kept going, "besides, we _both_ know you _do,_ in fact, have a journal."

Otogi was silent, trying to think of how he could get out of this one, but as he heard the words, "I _have_ seen Otogi carrying something that could be a journal around…" whispered and float through the room, he decided there was no use denying it. "Th-that… was a fake entry…!" he grasped desperately at the words, hoping beyond hope that his classmates would believe the lie. Maybe if he had thought of it before they would have bought it, but not when he was blushing like that.

Marik shook his head, a smile still on his face. "I guess I should've figured you wouldn't be ready for an open relationship… Ah well! I'll wait," he winked, "I'm looking forward to Saturday~!" he said flirtatiously before turning on his heels and walking out of the room, sliding the door closed quietly behind him.

Otogi stared at the closed door, as well as the other students. For once, the entire classroom of 9-A was completely and utterly silent _before_ the lesson.

And then the gossip started.

It started out as a few surprised whispers and grew so that people were just simply talking and discussing about it.

"Do you think Otogi's _always_ liked Ishtar?"

"It _would_ make sense."

"That must be why he's so against gays!"

"Ha! The poor faggot's trying to convince other's that he's not the exact same way!"

"That _would_ explain why he can't stick with one girlfriend."

The comments went on and on, right in front of Otogi. The poor dice-enthusiast just looked around at his classmates and 'friends,' utterly depressed and horrified as he watched his carefully built reputation be destroyed by the words of a girly Egyptian. Now what was his high-school life going to be like? He had tried so hard to hide these stupid, most likely hormonal feelings to himself, and now he was ruined! He slammed his head down on the desk, completely humiliated and almost suicidal.

Anai had watched the scene with wide eyes, surprised by how Marik was acting since she hadn't received the explanation the others had gotten. She had thought she knew Marik pretty well, and he certainly would never act like that… would he? Maybe she didn't know him as well as she had thought. And Otogi? Well, it had been pretty obvious he had been against gays from the start, and now it almost seems as if he _does_ have a crush on Marik…! After all, that phone call was convincing enough, but him blushing and denying his feelings… it just made the whole thing more suspicious. Needless to say, the poor girl was horribly confused, and in her confusion she kept staring at Otogi, trying to figure out what just happened.

Eventually, a girl's words earned her attention: "Well Sagaki-kun," the spiteful, mean, smirking girl said, "looks like you and Otogi-chan will be great friends now! You can be outcasts together." The girl laughed with her 'friends,' hateful and mean like the gossipy jerks they were. **(2)**

Anai felt tears sting her eyes, and she closed her eyes to dam them up. _I'm not an outcast_, she thought to herself, _I have great friends… much better ones than yours, that's for sure. _

_At least I don't have to be someone I'm not for them to like me._

* * *

Meanwhile, Marik was trying not to laugh too loudly. He currently had his back to the wall, his arms crossed over his stomach and was having silent laughing fits with his head leaned back. "Oh my god!" he said, "That was _so_ funny!" He closed his mouth, his chest still moving with laughter.

Bakura was having sort of the same reaction, only he was facing the wall and leaning on it, his back hunched slightly. He was pounding the wall with his fist and was silently laughing as well. "That was the best thing I've ever seen!" he said, trying not to laugh loudly, "Did you see him blush? Priceless!"

As the two boys tried not to laugh too much, Ryou was holding his mouth with one hand, a very amused smile on his features. He thought that the scene was funny as well, but he was trying not to be mean. After all, Otogi's reputation was being ruined, not that it was necessarily a good one to begin with, but it was still being ruined. But… it was just _so_ funny!

Ryou cleared his throat, "Well," he said, "I think we should go off to class now," looking at the two hysterical boys was making it very difficult not to laugh.

Marik calmed himself down first, wiping a happy tear from his eye. "You're right Ryou-san, let's go," he said as he stood up straight and chuckled again.

Bakura straightened up too and smirked at Marik. "I have to comment on your performance though; you looked _way_ too comfortable back there!"

Marik punched him in the shoulder, but he still had a smile. "Well, you don't know my personal life," he winked and then laughed, not too loudly but it was actually verbal this time, "and I have to say that acting like a love-struck fool was more fun than I thought it would be!"

Ryou grabbed Marik and Bakura by the arm and pulled, "Come _on_ you two! We're going to be late for class!" of course his words were marred by the fact that he was still struggling not to laugh as well.

Bakura put an arm around his brother, "Ryou, I'm going to die!" he said, burying his head in the crook of his shoulder.

Ryou rolled his eyes and patted Bakura's head, "Bakura, I don't know how many times I've told you this, but you can't die from laughter!" he smiled, "Even laughter as psychotic as yours," he giggled.

"Really? Because right now I think I can!" he laughed more, his breaths tickling Ryou's neck and making his hair stick up on end. He started pushing Bakura off, "Get off me, your breath on my neck feels weird." Of course, that statement made Bakura laugh harder as he lifted his head, now clutching his stomach. Did Ryou _realize_ how that sounded? Of course Bakura was the one who started it but, still, seriously Ryou?

Marik stared at the twins with a… weird look. Just how close were these two? He scrunched up his eyebrows at Bakura. The more he got to know the two, the more it seemed as if Bakura _did_ have feelings for his younger brother, and not the normal kind. Marik shuddered slightly. It hadn't really seemed a big deal until Bakura got so… touchy, with Ryou. I mean, the older twin had always been defensive every time Marik brought up the words "brother-complex," but Marik just thought he was annoyed that he couldn't be close to his brother without people assuming that kind of thing. But right now…?

Just then the bell rang, interrupting everyone's activities. "Oh no!" Ryou said, staring at the clock dismally, "I told you two we'd be late!"

Bakura scoffed, "Oh who cares, the teacher's probably not even there yet."

Marik started walking forward. "Nevertheless, we should get going. What should our excuse be?"

Ryou sighed. "Let me take care of it…" he said despondently, while Bakura sniggered in the background. Ryou shot him a glare and stuck his tongue out immaturely before walking ahead of the other two.

Marik raised an eyebrow, wondering what Ryou meant. "What are you going to do?" he asked him curiously.

Ryou just sighed again. "You'll see soon. I'm not proud."

* * *

The teacher turned towards the door as it slid open, revealing the Bakura twins and Ishtar. "Is there any particular reason you're late to my class boys?" she asked angrily.

Ryou bowed lowly. "Forgive me sensei, they were helping me with an important matter and I just lost track of time," he looked up and gave the teacher a sad, apologetic smile, "Punish me if you must, but please don't punish them for helping me."

The teacher looked at him surprised. "You're telling me _Ishtar-san_ and your _brother _were helping you…?" Don't get her wrong, she'd believe that either one of those boys would help the darling little Ryou, but helping him _together?_ That she had a hard time believing; she heard how much they hated each other. "What were they helping you with?" she asked curiously.

Marik was surprised when Ryou blushed. "Er," the white-haired beauty said, "it was kind of a… personal matter, and I'd prefer not to talk about it…"

The teacher looked at the 'girl,' wondering what kind of personal matter 'she' could discuss with two boys. Eventually she just sighed and said, "Just take your seats…"

Ryou smiled gratefully, and Bakura just smirked while Marik seemed surprised they were getting away with it, but he quickly covered that up with a smile. Ryou bowed quickly again, "Thank you sensei!" he said before taking his seat, Bakura and Marik right behind him.

However, the teacher stopped Marik, "Jackets are against school rules Ishtar-san," she told him, pointing to the red jacket he was wearing.

Marik looked at his jacket and back at the teacher. "I'm sorry, but I have to wear this jacket today."

The teacher raised an eyebrow. "Why? Do you have a note from your parents?"

Marik rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "No, but –"

"Then you need to take it off."

Marik sighed before taking the jacket off, allowing everyone to see the bite marks all across his arms. The teacher's eyes widened in surprise. "Um, you can put your jacket back on…" she said, since the small, pale scars were distracting. Marik shrugged his jacket back on and then took his seat, sighing since now everyone except his friends were looking at him. No doubt he'd be faced with more questions than he'd already been expecting today…

* * *

Otogi was having a horrible time in classroom 9-A.

For one thing, the students kept passing him notes, the most common one being "Fag!" but there were other ones too, like "In the closet," "Denial," "I'm there for you," and his least favorite, "Egyptian fetish." Not to mention all of the looks he was getting. He just wanted to disappear, he just wanted to fake a sickness and get out of there as soon as possible, but he'd have to face it all sometime anyways…

"Please pass your homework forward," the teacher said. Otogi reached into his bag, grabbing the folder he knew he put his homework in. Only there was one problem.

It wasn't there.

_No,_ Otogi thought, actually starting to pale, _no, no! I can't have lost my homework!-!_ You see, this was actually a very big deal. He knew the only reason he got away with so much was because of his high grades, and a missing assignment would totally ruin his grades! Not to mention he'd get yelled at by his parents and have to face their disappointed stares. Otogi sighed, and when the teacher walked by his desk to collect his assignment, he had to look away and say lamely, "My homework appears to be missing…"

The teacher seemed surprised. "Missing?" his eyes hardened, "Or not completed?" He had to ask the question after Anai told him about this apparent misused music matter.

"I did it!" Otogi yelled, quieting his voice with his next sentence, "I swear I did it, I honestly don't know where it went –"

_Probably forgot to do it while he was working up the nerve to call Ishtar_.

Otogi froze as he heard those mean, snarky, snickering words whisk throughout the quiet classroom. Everyone heard it, he knew they did, he could tell even the _teacher_ heard it!

The teacher turned to the student who he knew was responsible for the comment since he knew his student's voices. "Shanama-san! That was very disrespectful. Ten percent off your homework."

Shanama groaned, "But I actually worked hard on it this time!" he complained.

"Maybe you should think about that the next time you're disrespectful, and you should work hard on your work all the time!" the teacher was starting to get very annoyed with all these grubby students. This student practically admitted that he barely did his homework! He'd be sure to grade his things more harshly than he already was. Honestly, he could care less about their "boyfriend or girlfriend" hullabaloo, all their teenage drama. As long as they get their work done, he didn't care; that was the guidance counselor's job anyways.

The teacher turned back to Otogi and said, "If you turn it in tomorrow I'll only knock off ten percent."

"Thank you sensei," he managed to say, that last whispered comment still ringing in his ears and affecting him.

The teacher sighed and walked back to the front of the class. "Please open your books to page 132, we will begin where we left off. Shanama-san, why don't you start with the reading today since you seem to like talking this morning."

Shanama rolled his eyes and stood up, starting to read from their English book. Otogi looked at the page but wasn't following along, he had already read this section, and since this teacher usually called on those who are usually disrespectful, he had nothing to fear. It was then he remembered his MP3 and the supposed "special" song that Bakura had put on there. He took out his MP3 quietly, sneaking a headphone in. He was about to turn it on when all of a sudden his teacher was standing before him and glaring at him. He held his hand out, "Give it," he demanded, livid.

Otogi swallowed and handed him the MP3. "Why don't we just see what's more important than my class, now shall we?"

Otogi paled, since he had no idea what Bakura had downloaded. He licked his lips, nervous about what would come from the speakers.

The teacher took the headphone from Otogi's ear and put it near his, turning the MP3 on. He quickly turned it off after hearing, "So you're gay –" sound throughout the room. _Loudly._ The volume had been up all the way, and since everyone had been stark silent to hear what would play on the music player _everyone_ heard it, and most burst into laughter. Otogi's face burned and he slammed his head down on the desk. _This can't be happening to me…_ he thought, _Why now, why today?-!_ Remind him never to cross certain white-haired siblings ever again.

The teacher, who usually didn't care about the "boyfriend/girlfriend" nonsense, also blushed a little. He handed him the MP3 back, "You… might want to keep that," was all he said in an awkward manner, not really knowing how to deal with a supposed gay, hormonal teenager. It surprised him but also didn't that a top student like Otogi would have these problems, maybe he'd talk to Pegasus about it later… but right now he had a class to settle down and teach. He cleared his throat, turning away from the still-blushing student. "All right! We've had our laughs, now it's back to work," he clapped twice, walking back to the front of the room. The students still sniggered and sneered at Otogi, they just did so secretly, quietly, making sure the teacher didn't see.

Anai stared at the scene with a light blush on her own face. She felt partially guilty, since she was part of the reason Otogi had been caught by the teacher… But she didn't feel too guilty. After all, he kind of deserved it.

* * *

Otogi was having a very odd day today.

First there was that whole incident in the classroom _before_ class, then his MP3 scene _during_ class, and now everyone either hated, mocked, laughed at, or tormented Otogi, or they were offering him words of support. He wasn't exactly sure if he liked either one; the supportive words were nice, but he didn't really want to hear them… Of course, that also told him who his true friends were, which apparently were _not_ the people that had been in his "gang." He had started talking to one, complaining about everything that had happened, and the guy completely ignored him! Not to mention that he saw his right hand man talking to another one of his "friends" like he was the one calling the shots now… which was probably the case. Otogi sighed, mourning the loss of his gang, his reputation, and his social life.

Not to mention the fact that people kept pushing him in the halls, booking him, muttering "fag" underneath their breath when they passed him, and all manner of bullying towards him in the halls and even in the classroom! He wasn't used to so much harassment, and certainly not for this subject, and he had no idea what to do. He felt angry, but he also felt empty and depressed. There wasn't really anything he could do, at least not without ruining his school records as well as everything else in his life.

But then, something… completely odd happened.

One of the girls from the Girls' Club, one who he had _thought_ hated him, started flirting with him and actually asked him out tonight… He was very surprised, to say the least, considering the fact that it seemed the rumor of his sexual orientation had circled around the whole school by second period. Of course, then an even worse fact hit him: what if the girl was only acting this way because she thought he was gay? He had heard about girls doing that… He asked her about it, and to his surprise she _laughed_ and said, "I don't believe that for a second. And it seems like right now you feel alone and could use some… _company_," and then winked at him flirtatiously and walked away.

Not only that, but it seemed like every girl who he had _thought_ hated him was flirting with him, and a few more asked him out! They all asked him out for different times too, as if he could just go from one date to the next all on the same day. He took the seven-o-clock date without hesitation, even if he wasn't entirely sure about the other ones. If he took them all, one of two things could happen.

The first one, which was the most likely, was that everyone would assume he's just trying to prove he's _not_ gay and using desperate measures, and another rumor might be started that he had bribed the girls to go on a date with him, since almost everyone else had thought these girls had hated him too. Of course, a by-product of this one is that everyone would just think these girls were pitying him…

The second one would be that everyone would think that Marik was lying and treat him normally again. They might think he has even more "game" than before since everyone thought these girls hated him and they were still asking _him_ out. But this was the least likely to happen, so he kept quiet about the dates, accepting them graciously. After all, what better way to cheer himself up after the horrible day he's had than with a few dates?

So, entering the lunchroom, Otogi was faced with a major problem.

Where should he sit?

It was obvious he wasn't welcome at his table anymore, considering the glares he was being given, and it seemed like the only tables that would take him were tables full of girls, and after the rumors that had been spread around, sitting with a table full of girls would probably be the _worst_ thing he could do in this situation. Now, if he had sat with a table full of girls _before_ the rumors, then that would possibly be the best thing he could've done. But it wasn't before the rumors, so he had no idea where to sit.

He felt cold-hearted fear grip his heart as he heard, "Otogi-kun~!" call throughout the cafeteria. He turned his head slowly towards who had called his name. Sure enough, he saw Marik with the "Friendship Gang" smiling at him and gesturing with his hand to come over and sit with them. No _way_ was he going to do that; that would be the _absolute_ worst decision he could make with his current situation. Feeling his eye twitch at Ishtar and feeling even more depressed, he went outside to eat by himself under a tree since he saw no other option.

As Marik saw Otogi go eat outside, defeated, he laughed. Everyone else joined him, even Ryou and Yugi, which was actually very surprising to most of their gang.

"I heard the rumor about Otogi before first period even let out!" Atem told his friends with an amused smile, "Nice job you two."

"My plan is full-proof," Bakura boasted as he leaned back in his chair and put his hands behind his head.

"It's kind of fun to pretend to be someone you're not," Marik commented with a chuckle as he ate his shrimp.

Bakura was about to say something when Anai showed up. She tapped Bakura's shoulder and folded her arms, staring at him disapprovingly. "You didn't tell me what would happen with his MP3!" she said quietly, yet powerfully. Her tone shocked the group, but the Girls' Club members especially.

Bakura just shrugged. "What did you expect?"

Anai hesitated. "I don't know…" she said, her tone shy again, "N-not that…"

"Why?" Amora asked, "What happened?"

Anai turned to her with a nervous look on her face. She voided everyone's gaze as she said, "O-Otogi's MP3 was turned up all the way and played… "So you're gay" be-before the teacher turned it off…"

Amora, Jounouchi, Honda, Atem, Bakura, and Marik burst out laughing. Everyone else was kind of shocked and fought smiles, everyone except Yugi and Ryou, who were glaring at their respective twin disapprovingly. "Bakura!" Ryou said, "Why would you do that?" he scolded him as Yugi talked to Atem quietly yet sternly.

"Oh come on Ryou!" Bakura said, still fighting laughter, "You knew I had his MP3, I wonder why you didn't think of it!"

Ryou shook his head. "That's _too_ cruel though."

"Crueler than stealing a kiss?"

"…"

"That's what I thought," Bakura said smugly as he leaned against his chair again.

Ryou sighed and started massaging his temples. The truth was, he was actually kind of enjoying all the stuff Otogi was going through… was that mean? He couldn't help but feel it was mean… However, even though he was enjoying it he knew when something crossed the line, and this certainly crossed it. Of course, now that he thought about it, the girls' plan might be crossing that line as well, so he couldn't really say anything.

"Now that I think about it," Anzu said suddenly, looking at Amora, "Bakura and Marik's plan might actually be helping our plan along."

"Yeah, you're right," Kana-chan said.

"Yeah!" Amora exclaimed, "Because now he's even more desperate and won't question the dates! Heh, he probably thinks we're all just pitying him anyways!" she laughed.

Ryou chuckled and was about to say something when he saw Anai starting to walk away out of the corner of his eyes. "Anai-chan, why don't you eat with us?" he asked.

Anai turned to 'her,' a light pink blush on her face. "I-I couldn't… your table's already so full –"

"Come on girl!" Jounouchi interrupted her, "Eat with us! Please?"

"Yeah Anai-san," Honda joined in, "we never see you except during gym, come eat with us!"

"Eto…" Anai said, glancing at Kana-chan and Mandai, whom most had forgotten about since she never said anything. They both smiled at her encouragingly, but she just bit her lip and said, "I'm… used to eating a-alone though… AH!" she let out a quiet, surprised scream as she felt herself being pulled by the hand.

"Come on Anai!" Amora whined, "You always sit alone, well I'm sick of it! _Sick of it!_"

Anai blinked at her and clenched her fist. She tore her hand away and said forcefully, "Well maybe I like sitting alone, did you ever think of that?"

Amora blinked at her, and everyone else just stared. Anai looked down, away from everyone, turning shy again. "It's ea-easier…"

"… But less fun," Ryou's clear voice cut through the tense atmosphere.

Anai looked at 'her' and said, "I suppose…"

"And lonely," Ryou continued, having eyes for no one but her.

"Ryou-san…" Anai said hesitantly, a little apprehensive at his tone and look.

Ryou stood up and grabbed his food, smiling at her. "I'll sit with you then, since this table is "so full,"" he walked forward and linked elbows with her.

Anai blushed but pushed 'her' away. "Ryou-san… you don't want to do that, trust me," she said, her voice sounding pained.

Ryou tilted his head slightly with curiosity. "Why not?"

Anai avoided 'her' gaze, "People… _girls_ who associate with me get made fun of," she mumbled quietly before walking away, back outside to her usual, deserted corner.

Ryou stared after her, his fists clenching and unclenching. _Who the heck makes fun of this sweet girl?_ he thought angrily. His eyes lit with fire before turning around and grabbing Bakura's arm, pulling him up. "You're coming with me!" he commanded.

Bakura sighed and stood up, starting to walk with him. "Curse you and your niceness, forcing me to move," he said with an annoyed yet almost proud tone, his face trading between annoyed and amused.

Ryou stuck his tongue out with a smile. "You know you love me and my "niceness.""

"…" Bakura said nothing, but he felt a little heat rise to his face. Luckily Ryou didn't notice…

As the two white-haired twins left, Marik turned to the rest of the group with a smile. "It'd be a good day to eat outside, don't you all agree?" he asked.

Atem pretending to think with the same smirk. "Why yes, I do believe it would be a wonderful day to eat outside.

"Certainly nicer than a stuffy, crowded lunchroom," Yugi joined in with the same expression.

"Infinitely nicer," Anzu agreed, smiling at her boyfriend.

"And we could get away from all the loud noises," Jounouchi said, rubbing his ears with the same smile.

"Yeah! They do get annoying from day to day," Honda laughed.

"Besides," Kana-chan said with a smile," it's proven that food tastes better outside. Why do you think picnics are so popular?" she asked, looking at Mandai, who just nodded, her lips curled upwards slightly in amusement.

Amora stood up and clapped her hands together once. "What are we waiting for? Let's eat outside with our three friends!"

So just like that, the Friendship Gang went mobile. They all picked up their trays and lunchboxes and walked outside to where Anai, Ryou, and Bakura were sitting.

Anai was extremely surprised and flattered. She stammered and blushed and told them all they didn't have to do this, but they wouldn't hear it. "You're our friend Anai," Ryou told her, "and if you won't come with us, we'll go with you."

Anai blushed more and looked away from everyone. "Th-thank you…" she said as she played with her fingers, burrowing holes into the ground with her eyes.

* * *

Otogi closed his locker smiling at the end of the day. He had acquired seventeen dates for this weekend. Seventeen! Of course, if he counted the unofficial one with Ishtar, technically he had eighteen, but since he was planning on blowing that one off anyways he had seventeen! _Seventeen!_ That was more than his previous record of five. A _lot_ more.

Of course, if he had thought hard and contemplated all the girls that had asked him out, he would have seen that they were all current Girls' Club members. Sure, he figured the majority of them _were_ just pity dates for his recent "coming out," but a date was a date right? Besides, he'd just have to convince these girls that he _wasn't_ gay. _At least not all the way,_ he thought to himself before realizing what he thought and stuck his head in his locker out of disbelief. _Did I _really_ just think that?-!_

"Otogi-kun~!" the tortured boy heard for the third time that day. He groaned and took his head out of his locker to give Ishtar a defeated look. "What do you want?" he asked, at this point deciding to just get the Egyptian to leave him alone as soon as possible instead of arguing with him.

Marik was sort of surprised by his civility, but he quickly covered it up with a "flirty" smile. He leaned against the lockers with an arm above his head and put one hand on his hip. "You didn't sit next to me at lunch!" he said with "surprise," "I assume you had homework to do or something, and that's why you sat by yourself outside."

"Yeah, homework…" he said. Actually, that wasn't a lie – he _had_ gotten a lot of homework done during lunchtime. Which was a very good thing, considering he wouldn't have much time to work on homework this weekend on account of all the dates he had acquired.

"Soooo," Marik drawled, "what are we doing on Saturday?"

Otogi opened his mouth to answer back that he wouldn't go on a _date_ with him even if it cost him his life, but he faltered. He began thinking about all the crap he'd been put through today, all the never-ending comments about him being gay, all the physical and verbal abuse, him out-casted, ostracized from everyone… It felt horrible. So many people hated him now, and some for no reason other than the rumors. Although they were pretty strong rumors with that phone-call and his reactions, but still. He wasn't used to feeling such hate and aloneness, it felt awful. Did he really deserve to be picked on so much? Did he really deserve to be shoved into lockers and be booked, and to have to sit through the name-calling and comments in the halls? He remembered one comment in the halls especially, "It's not so fun when the shoe's on the other foot, is it Otogi-_chan?_"

He had frozen when he heard that; it was that comment that made him realize that he had done these same horrible things to Ishtar, and to other people, and he felt a guilty, _horribly_ guilty. No one deserved to feel this way, this horrible pain in your stomach telling you that you don't belong, you're worthless, everyone hates you… No one deserved to hear these names in the halls, to feel like they just wanted to go haul themselves up somewhere and ignore everybody. Plus, he remembered what it felt like when Mai hadn't shown up for their date, and he felt that no one deserved to feel the pain and loneliness that he had felt when that happened.

Besides, he admitted (only to himself) that he liked Ishtar for _some_ weird reason, so maybe he should just go on a date and see…? It's not like it would hurt him or his reputation anymore than he and it were already being hurt, and it would probably be impossible to get past these feelings if he kept holding them inside and didn't at least even try to see if it was true or just hormones.

So, because of these thoughts, realizations, and his guilt, he said, "Um, about Saturday…" as he closed his locker and stared him straight in the eyes, but he found this difficult so he moved his gaze a little to the side, "I'm going to be really busy this Saturday, so I won't be able to make it… sorry."

Marik was genuinely shocked. He was actually apologizing? He had been expecting Otogi to get mad again, and start yelling at him, not apologizing for being "busy" on Saturday. "Um…" Marik said, breaking his character before smiling again and shrugging, "Yeah sure, no problem." He started walking away, but froze when he heard Otogi say quietly, "…Maybe, next week?"

Marik spun on his heels and looked at Otogi. The boy was blushing slightly and looking off to the side at the floor, one of his arms across his chest and rubbing his other arm, his shoulders tensed; the traditional hesitant, shy, confused, unsure pose.

Marik's eyes widened slowly. _Don't tell me he's going to start experimenting,_ he thought to himself, _I never thought he'd actually agree! What do I do?_

"… Sure," Marik eventually answered with a smile, "next week…" he turned around and fast-walked away. Now he was starting to worry; what if Otogi actually started acting on his… crush, now? Maybe he felt like since everyone already assumed/knew he was gay-curious that he might as well test it. If that was the case, this was very bad for Marik, since Otogi now assumed he _liked_ the dice boy. Marik groaned to himself. He never should have agreed to this stupid revenge plan! But he had never thought Otogi would act civilly towards him! Or tell him _Maybe_ _next week_. Marik shuddered at the thought of himself on a date with the previous homophobe. _No way in hell!_ he thought to himself, _If that starts to happen, I'm aborting this stupid plan!_

Marik froze in his tracks as he heard a spiteful voice say some ways behind him, "Aw, the two faggots finally going on a date?"

Marik turned around, getting ready to yell at this guy, when he saw that there was no one looking at him. Rather, there was someone looking at Otogi.

Otogi glared at the offending guy and just scoffed. "At least I can _get_ a date," he said haughtily.

The guy laughed cruelly and put his face close to Otogi's. "Bet you wish you could get a date with me, _fag_."

Otogi poked him in his round belly. "You kidding? You're so fat and ugly that I'd be surprised if a _dog_ wanted to go out with you!"

The guy pushed Otogi up against the lockers and started choking him. Otogi kicked and struggled, desperately tugging at the hands. It was getting really hard for him to breath and he was starting to black out… but then he felt the hands release and he saw the guy lying on the ground. He looked up to see a very pissed-off Egyptian standing over him, his hands on his hips glaring at the boy on the floor. "Hot-headed _idiots_ who can't keep their mouths shut get hurt you know…" he said angrily to the guy. He looked up at Otogi, "You okay?" he asked, extending a hand since he remembered when he had first been choked he had been a little shocked, and had wished someone would've helped him until he recovered fully.

Otogi blinked and grabbed Marik's hand, pulling himself up from the lockers. He _was_ a little shocked, and felt jumbled up inside; that had happened so fast… But he had to admit, holding another dude's hand wasn't as bad as he had thought it'd be. It felt kind of nice… he quickly let go of Marik's hand and used it to rub the back of his head. "Thanks…" he said.

Marik shrugged. "Don't mention it," he said, forgetting that he was supposed to act like a love-struck fool. He started walking away, but then Otogi grabbed him by the shoulder and said, "Sorry I never did the same for you."

"… Like I said, don't mention it," Marik said as he turned and smiled at the guy he had previously hated. The key-word being "previously," now he just pitied and felt bad for the boy, plus, his recent nice attitude made him feel just a _touch_ more respect for the boy. Marik shrugged his hand off and walked forward, "I have to get away from this scene, I've already gotten into enough trouble for beating up jerks like him from Pegasus."

Otogi laughed. "I bet half of that trouble was because of me?" he asked with a smirk.

Marik stopped and turned to him, a smile slowly growing on his face until he laughed. "You'd be correct in thinking that."

Otogi laughed and then waved, walking backwards away from him. Then something happened that Marik wasn't entirely sure about, but made his blood run cold at the thought. Otogi's eyes scanned him up and down, in a very _interested_ way. Marik felt his body shiver in repulse from the thought of Otogi "checking him out," but he wasn't entirely sure he had been or if he was just seeing things, so he just turned on his heels and quickly walked away, deciding to forget about it.

Of course, now he kind of thought that maybe Otogi wasn't such a bad guy…

* * *

"All right girls!" Anzu said in the locker room after school, "Today was just step one of our plan!"

"Technically," Mai interrupted with a superior smile, leaning against the wall, "_I_ was step one since I did it first, you're all step two."

Anzu looked at Mai with narrowed eyes. "Mai-san, Step One is all the same kind of things, so I'm going to call it Step One."

"I'm just saying, _technically_," she said with a quiet, haughty laugh.

Anzu rolled her eyes and turned back to the girls, who were sitting in a circle, some on the benches, some on the floor. "Now you all know Step Two, so just enjoy your weekend and give a shout at your "date" time!"

Amora raised her hand and Anzu called on her. The excited girl stood up and bowed low. "I applaud all of you girls for the bravery it must have taken to ask that horrible excuse for a "dream boy" out. Heaven knows I couldn't have done it, and I didn't!" she then sat down with a smile on her face.

Ryou laughed; it was true, she didn't ask Otogi out. Not only because she knew she wouldn't be able to, but because all of the girls decided it would be _very_ suspicious if _Amora_ of all people asked Otogi out, since it was obvious she hated him the most with the white-hot intensity of a thousand suns. It was also decided that Anzu and Anai wouldn't ask him out either. Anzu because it was obvious she was loyal to Yugi, and Anai because… actually, Ryou didn't really know why Anai was excused, no one would tell him. He knew that he was excused because he was the last step of their plan though…

"Oh please, it wasn't hard," one of the girls said, "he seemed so desperate that he agreed without hesitation, and politely! It was a nice change from his usual bad attitude."

"He agreed before I even said the time," Mandai said monotonously, laying down on the benches with her hands behind her head and staring up at the ceiling.

"I kind of feel bad for the kid now," another girl commented, causing all of the girls to stare at her and Amora to start glaring. She quickly tried to explain herself, "I mean, he may be a horrible jerk and all, but no one deserves _this_ much harassment. I saw him get shoved into a locker three times today, _three!_ And that's just me, what about you girls? Did you see him get teased and hurt during passing periods?"

All of the girls thought for a second before realization and a touch of guilt settled over them. "Well…" Kana-chan said, "I did hear a lot of comments in the halls…"

"And I saw him get booked," another girl joined in.

"I saw some guy trip him," one girl said with scrunched eyebrows.

"I heard a lot of jerks asking him out…" one girls noted with a sad tone.

"He had to eat lunch alone today," Ryou put in.

As the girls kept inputting what they had seen happen to their "target," Ryou began to feel a strong amount of guilt consume him. If he could've just stood up for himself and not dragged everyone else into it, Otogi wouldn't be tormented so much like this, Bakura and Marik wouldn't be running the risk of getting suspended or even _expelled_, the girls wouldn't be feeling so guilty, and he himself wouldn't be feeling so guilty either. And surely _no one_ deserved this much torment? Even if Otogi was a jerk, that was just him. It's not like he and all the other bullies and jerks and their goons all took on the same target, but that's what was happening to Otogi. _All_ of the bullies and jerks of the school were tormenting purely _him_, as Ryou heard a few people, who he supposed were previous victims of theirs, discussing during the halls: "Now that everyone's after Otogi, we're scot free!"

Ryou looked around the room, deducing that the girls felt kind of the same thing. Even Otogi didn't deserve all this.

"Eto…" Anai said in that quiet voice. However, since everyone was used to listening for Anai's quiet voice, everyone was silenced and turned to her, almost as if she had shouted. Anai seemed horribly surprised and looked away from everyone, her mouth open but her tongue tied, her face blushing from her being stared at.

After a few seconds of silence, Ryou encouraged her: "What is it Anai-chan?" 'she' said softly.

Anai turned to 'her' and stared purely at 'her,' no one else, and she felt a little calmer. "O-Otogi has also been… bullied _during_ classes…"

It was Anai's quiet, sorrowful words that made everyone realize just how _mean_ they might have been. Even Amora seemed to be having doubts, and Mai commented, "We might have taken things a bit too far here girls…"

"Yeah," Anzu said, "after all, with both us and Bakura and Marik getting revenge on Otogi, it's definitely gone too far."

"Maybe we should abort the rest of the plan?" one girl asked worriedly, "those two boys seem to have it under control anyways…"

"That might hurt him too though," Ryou said, "he's expecting all of these dates, but if they all cancel then he'll feel even worse."

"But if we don't show up then he'll be even worse off too!" one girl almost whined, "It'd be more humane to cancel them!"

"Hold on here girls," Amora interrupted, holding her hands up, "I don't think we should abort the plan just yet."

"Why?" Kana-chan asked, "We all agreed that we've taken it too far."

"Yes, but just listen to me for a second," Amora continued. Ryou stared at her, curious to hear what she'll say. "Otogi's done a lot of awful things, maybe not all at once like what's being done to him, but I bet you if we add up all the things he's done to everyone that this punishment is actually fair. He's just getting his punishment all at once instead of over time like us."

"But if he gets anymore of this torment he might be suicidal," one girl said, immediately causing Ryou's stomach to knot up inside himself. Oh god… what if he caused someone to _kill_ themselves…?-!

"Yeah," another girl continuing the previous girl's thought, "popular kids aren't used to being teased so much, he might feel the only way to escape is through death." Well, now Ryou felt even worse.

"If that's the case," Anzu said, "then the only thing that _would_ be keeping him alive is…"

"All the dates he thinks he has," Ryou finished. He was starting to feel sick now as the girl's locker room turned silent. "… Girls, what have we done…?"

Ryou's words summed up the entirety of the girls' feelings.

* * *

**(1)**: For those who got that, I couldn't resist… Sorry XD

**(2)**: I was SO tempted to put, "hateful and mean like the bitches they were," because I hate them… but that would show extreme author biasness, even if they did deserve it… (plus it seemed kind of awkward to put there so suddenly like that).

**Grah, I really shouldn't be posting this chapter right now… but ah well ^^; I think I can make this work… yes… (Sorry, it's just I went through so many plans and cut some scenes/ideas that I'm not entirely sure this is, how you say, **_**perfect**_**… XD Haha, but it should be fine~! *really just feels guilty about not updating*)**

**I'm wondering; is anyone feeling any empathy or sympathy or even pity for Otogi at all here? Or do you all think he deserves what he's getting? Just wondering if I'm doing a good enough job describing his feelings… (I know it sucks…)**

**Anyways, tell me your favorite part please~! I'd really appreciate it! (Really **_**reeeeaaaaalllly~!**_**) And also tell me your least favorite part while you're at it! Thankies~! (Oh, and also why… XD that'd be great as well since I would like to improve…) **

**~~~{REVIEW REPLIES}~~~**

**Vi**: Blecch, I know what you mean; I stink at writing reviews too ^^; I'm glad you liked the last chapter though~! I hope you enjoyed this one as well =) Haha, yeah, the idea of Otogi liking Marik popped into my head, I'm like, "Well, what if _this_ happened…?" *evil smile* MUA HA HA HA HAAAAA! I'm glad you're loving this story so far though~! ^^ Makes me happy. And you don't fail at reviewing; you just forget, which is okay =) I love any and all reviews, and I understand they require work, so just review when you can dear! And I'm sorry for not updating soon… eheheh…

**MadMadGurl**: Haha, yeah, it's kind of funny XD I just _had_ to include it – it was too good to pass up~! I hope you enjoyed this chapter =) And heh, I kinda took my time… ^^; Sorry…

**Star**: XD Ahah, sorry about that… this one had a little bit of tendershipping! … Heh… ^^; I'm glad you think it's adorable~! ^^ And I plan on finishing it! Don't worry about that! XD And ha, keep that theory about "if Ryou reeeally liked Baku back it could" work theory in your head, heehee… ;)  
Hope you enjoyed this chapter~!

**Cai**: Hi! It's Cai! =D You had to go without internet for three months?-! I could not live with that… O.o Glad you loved the length of last chapter though~! (I worried over that for a while… XD). I'm glad you love my original characters! I hope this chapter didn't annoy anyone too greatly with them… Glad you think Anai is adorable though~! I think so too ^^  
Sooo, how did you enjoy the plans~? XD Did they go as you expected them to? Of course this is only step one… I hope you feel a little pity or sympathy for him now though XD  
Oh! Thiefshipping's your OTP too? XD Haha, glad you loved the Polarshipping~! ^^ And yes, he is dense… and really? You liked my horrible attempt at Angstshipping? :') Yay~!  
TELL ME WHO YOU ARE!  
Thank you for reviewing Cai~! Your reviews make me laugh XD


	10. Changes With the Wind

… **Eheheh… I'd apologize profusely for the lack of updates for months, but would you rather read that, or read the next chapter? ^^; Also, you should all thank **_**laura393**_** for this update, because honestly it would probably not be here if she hadn't reviewed a couple days ago… (See, your reviews DO make a difference :P) **

**So, without further ado, here's the next installment of **_**Ryou's School Life**_**! Hope you enjoy it =)**

Chapter 10: Changes With the Wind

* * *

Ryou woke up Saturday morning still feeling the guilt that he had felt yesterday after seeing the effects all of his and the girls' actions had on Otogi. He hadn't gotten much sleep last night because of his guilt either, and he started rubbing his dry eyes.

Most of the girls who had made the dates with him actually had other obligations to go to or just had too much homework, so eight of the girls called and canceled their dates, seeing as their previous plan of just not showing up might have too severe repercussions. The nine left over didn't really want to go on their date, but five agreed that they would go: "_One_ date with him won't kill us," they said. The four left over admitted almost guiltily that they wanted to continue with the original plan and just not show up, because they wanted to teach him that he couldn't be so disrespectful to girls or people in general, and this seemed a good way – it would hit him right in the heart. "Or his ego," as one girl blurted out. After all, Bakura and Marik's plan mainly involved revenge, not really a lesson, other than to stop being such a jerk to everyone.

The girls all agreed that this should be fine, after all, only _four_ girls weren't showing up, and surely Otogi would just shrug those off? He couldn't really have that low of self-esteem after one day of torment, right?

Ryou sighed to himself before getting out of bed and getting dressed. He really hoped that everything would turn out all right in the end; Otogi was a strong person, right? He should be able to shake this off… Right?

Ryou sighed again, making his bed and then heading out of his room. While he was walking down the stairs, he was met with these lovely words: "_DIE WRINKLES DIE!-!-!_"

Ryou laughed so hard he had to lean against the stair rail to keep himself upright. Sounds like Bakura was ironing again. Ryou tried to stop laughing, but he couldn't help a few giggles as he walked down the rest of the stairs and stepped into the living room. Just like he thought; Bakura was watching his favorite soap opera, "Two Times the Charm" while ironing. Of course, by the looks of it, he wasn't really paying much attention to the TV as he was staring at the shirt he was trying to iron very angrily, running the hot iron over it almost like a madman. "You will bow down to me you fucking wrinkle!-!" his voice boomed down at the inanimate object.

Bakura turned and glared at Ryou as he heard more laughter come from the boy. "It's not funny! The wrinkle will not go away!-!"

Ryou just laughed harder. "I told you Bakura – you're not wearing your apron! You know the wrinkles are harder to get out when you're not wearing your apron!"

Bakura scowled. "We may believe in the occult, but that's just ridiculous! No fucking apron is going to help me get wrinkles out of a fucking shirt!"

"Oh you never know Bakura," Ryou said, a mischievous glint in his eye, "the wrinkles might just be out to get you, and the only thing that will calm their anger is your apron!"

Bakura scoffed. "You just want to see me wear an apron with kittens all over it, don't you?"

"It is a nice break from the black you wear," Ryou admitted, "I'll go get it!"

"I'm not wearing that apron!-! Even _mom_ agreed I was getting too old for that thing!"

Ryou started laughing. "Wasn't mom the one who hid it on you so you'd stop using it so much?"

"… Hey, it was like my blanket okay?" Bakura said embarrassedly, crossing his arms and looking at the TV.

Ryou laughed again and hugged his brother from behind. "I know 'Kura, and I know you want it right now don't you?"

"… I have no comment," Bakura said, putting his hands on Ryou's, really appreciating the fact that Ryou had no qualms about personal contact. Of course, sometimes that didn't come in _quite_ so handy…

Ryou laughed and squeezed him before going into the kitchen and getting out Bakura's apron.

Their mother had bought it for him, after he had agreed to help his mom out by having the ironing be his chore when he was around ten. Their mom had been a little nervous and hesitant about letting a ten year old iron, but after Bakura learned how to do the chore she trusted him. Though sometimes he got a little mad that the wrinkles wouldn't leave, like he was currently. Anyways, their mom had bought him an apron, and Bakura loved that apron – at the time. After a while, he saw how kid-ish it was, but he just couldn't stand to stop using it. After all, their mom had given it to him, _hell_ if he was throwing that thing away! Besides, it _was_ very soft and comfy. Not to mention cute, what with all the playful kittens on it. In the middle it had a white kitten on its back with a string of yarn in its smiling mouth. Its head was tilted slightly in a playful manner, and it was surrounded by many other playing kittens as well.

Ryou laughed again before walking into the living room, hearing Bakura exclaim, "No! Yumi, you idiot! Now she'll never love you!-!"

Ryou covered his mouth to stop his laughter before handing Bakura the apron. "Here you go, so what did Yumi do now?"

"That _idiotic_ excuse for a female just kissed her twin while they were fighting. _Idiot!_" Bakura said as he took the apron and slid it on.

Ryou chuckled and shook his head. "Isn't it weird to watch a soap op –"

"It is _not_ a soap opera!" Bakura interrupted _very_ angrily, trying to tie the apron strings at his back. But this task was proving difficult. "It is just a show that I like to watch," he insisted.

Ryou rolled his eyes, an amused smile on his lips as he tied Bakura's apron strings. "All right, _fine_. Isn't it weird to watch a _show_ about three sets of twins in love?"

"Not really," Bakura said, avoiding Ryou's gaze as he concentrated on his wrinkled shirt.

"But I mean," Ryou continued, "we're twins… isn't that awkward for you?"

"… Like I said, not really," Bakura continued, folding up his now wrinkle-free shirt.

"They even covered all the bases: boy and girl, boy and boy, and girl and girl," Ryou said, "and aren't they all in love with each other as well?"

Bakura sighed. "I don't know how many times I've explained this to you," he said as he went to the kitchen and got a piece of paper and a pencil. He came back and started writing something down, then he showed it to Ryou:

TWINS (oldest to youngest):

Boy – Botan  
Girl – Raku

Boy – Maro  
Boy – Makoto

Girl – Yasu  
Girl – Yumi

"Botan is in love with Raku," Bakura pointed to the names as he said them, "who doesn't want a relationship, but she's starting to fall for Makoto anyways, who is starting to return her feelings slowly, even though he also loves Yasu. Maro is also in love with Makoto, but Makoto is straight as a line, so that kind of sucks for Maro. Yumi loves Yasu, but she also has a boyfriend even though she doesn't like him as much as she does Yasu, but Yasu only likes Yumi as a sister and likes both Maro and Raku equally, so Yasu can't decide.

"However, Botan is _also_ starting to develop feelings for Maro who is returning them, since they both love their little siblings and have a lot of other things in common, and Raku is trying to get those two together so that she and Makoto can run off together or something. Meanwhile, Yumi and Yasu's relationship is really heating up with Yumi actually _telling_ her twin about her feelings! I still can't believe that – Yumi is such a pansy. As well, Yasu is trying to work out her relationship with Yumi because now she keeps questioning her feelings and gets angry at her twin easily, and she's also trying to sabotage any relationship that Raku and Maro might have because of her jealousy. Which is totally unfair and stupid because she can't decide who she likes! I hate Yasu…"

By the end of that explanation, Ryou's head was starting to spin. "Bakura, that's _way_ too confusing!"

Bakura rolled his eyes and scribbled more stuff on the paper before showing it to Ryou again:

TWINS (oldest to youngest):

Boy – Botan: loves Raku (starting to like Maro)  
Girl – Raku: starting to fall for Makoto (doesn't want a relationship)

Boy – Maro: loves Makoto (starting to like Botan)  
Boy – Makoto: returns Raku's feelings, loves Yasu (completely straight)

Girl – Yasu: loves Maro and Raku, likes Yumi only as a sister (maybe more?)  
Girl – Yumi: loves Yasu (told her)

Ryou read the paper and then handed it back to Bakura. "Yeah, I was done with this show after the first season. I regret introducing it to you."

It was true; Ryou had been the one who found this. He had found it three years ago, when he was eleven. He had been flipping through the channels when all of a sudden he saw, "Two Times the Charm" title screen pop up, and he had been immediately curious. He started watching it, and about five minutes in Bakura came down and saw the show and decided to watch it with him when he heard the title. Ryou kind of found the show boring and weird, but Bakura seemed totally captivated. Ryou _tried_ to get into it, but he just couldn't, so he quit after the first season. Besides, their parents told them it was more of an adult program anyways and didn't actually want Bakura to watch it, but he convinced them. (Little did Ryou know, this show was the main reason Bakura knew so many "adult" jokes and innuendos.)

Anyways, Bakura took his paper with the complicated relationships written on it and folded it neatly before sticking it in his back pocket. "The first season was _nothing_ compared to this one, the first one was just introducing all of the twin's relationships separately, the second introduced the relationships with all three twins, and I think this one's going to conclude it with one long drama-fest or something."

"Usually soap operas last much longer than that," Ryou commented, "maybe it is just a show."

"Told you! I think it's a cross between a drama and a sit-com myself," Bakura said as he continued ironing. "Anyways, finish your chores so we can start looking for jobs. You finished your homework yesterday right?"

Ryou sighed. "Yeah, barely managed through my guilt," he said as he walked into the kitchen to eat some breakfast.

"Oh yeah, what was your guilt for again?" Bakura asked as he continued to iron and watch his show.

"I think we've been too mean to Otogi!" Ryou said, "I mean sure, he stole my first kiss, but –"

"_What?-!_" Bakura exclaimed, looking towards the kitchen with a fierce expression.

Ryou's eyes widened in shock at Bakura's outburst, but then remembered: he hadn't told Bakura that was his _first_ kiss…

Uh oh.

"Ryou," Bakura said as he unplugged the iron and turned the TV on mute, "repeat what you just said."

"… Um… I forget…?" Ryou said with a shrug and a nervous smile. He bit his lip when he saw Bakura walking into the kitchen, giving him a hard look.

Bakura walked right up to Ryou and stared him in the eyes. He had heard Ryou quite clearly, and the fact that Ryou wouldn't repeat what he said confirmed that he had heard correctly. His eye started twitching and he let out a low growl. "That jackass deserves everything he's gotten and _going_ to get!" he proclaimed.

Ryou sighed. "Bakura, it's no big deal, really…" he whispered.

Bakura shook his head disapprovingly. "Don't lie to me Ryou…" He stood up straight and folded his arms, sighing in contempt at his brother's carelessness. Honestly, he just hated this because his first kiss had been taken from him too by some slutty girl. He absolutely _hated_ that girl, not that he hadn't gotten his revenge but… he remembered wanting to kill that girl, so how must Ryou feel?

"Bakura, I'm fine, really," Ryou insisted, "technically it doesn't count."

Bakura looked at him, and he _probably_ would have believed him, if Ryou hadn't sounded like he was trying to convince himself of that fact too. The older twin sighed and ruffled his younger sibling's hair with a smile. Ryou's eyes closed and he smiled as his hair was messed with; it reminded him of when they were younger. Such a simpler time back then. No cares, no worries, no pain; it was great.

Bakura smiled at Ryou's expression and kissed his forehead before walking back into the living room to finish ironing. "Eat your breakfast," was all he said as he turned the TV off of mute mode.

"I will!" Ryou chirped happily before getting a pan to start making his food.

* * *

Otogi sighed as he walked home from what was supposed to have been his fourth date. The girl hadn't shown up; actually, only his first and third dates had shown up so far, and that had been yesterday night! Of course, he means the first and third girl to the now-only nine girls that _hadn't_ cancelled their date.

_Did I do something wrong?_ Otogi thought to himself, _Why didn't they show? Did they change their minds at the last second? They should have called me…_

He kicked a small rock, his hands in his pockets. He had finally thought that things were looking up, but it seemed like things were starting to just get worse and worse. First, half of the girls that had asked him out told him that they were too busy and couldn't make it, which had already made him feel more depressed and that those dates _were_ just meaningless, pity dates that they probably felt obligated to make but not compelled enough to go to. Of course, most of them had good reasons for cancelling, but it still hurt… why hadn't they just _not_ asked him out if they didn't know if they'd be busy or not? And now two girls hadn't shown up to their date times? They should've at least called; at least that's better than just not showing up at all. He _always_ called if something came up…

_I guess I deserve it…_ Otogi thought, starting to feel depressed, _After all, I've been so horrible to everyone._ Otogi stopped walking and looked up at the sky. The sun was shining so brightly, not a cloud in the sky. This day didn't represent how he felt at all, right now he felt down. More depressed than he's ever felt before. He felt like his life was over; his "friends" had all abandoned him, he was going to be considered a faggot and an outcast, he'd probably _never_ get another date with a woman again after this, and he just felt like… no one cared. But what made this whole thing so much worse, what made him feel so depressed was that he knew he deserved it. He deserved all this torture, maybe even more. After all, he's probably delivered much more pain than this to other people, it was finally his turn to feel like everyone felt after they were bullied.

But… did that mean he had to like it?

He was sorry. Truly, utterly sorry. Sorry for everything he's ever done; sorry for this awful feeling that he probably made others feel; sorry for teasing anyone he's ever teased before; sorry for being such a bully; sorry for being so disrespectful towards everyone, especially women; sorry he ever called anyone a "fag;" but most of all, he was sorry that he didn't realize how much he had been hurting other people.

_No one deserves this… No one._

_Except me._

Otogi kept walking, taking a deep breath before letting it out. _I deserve all this… I've been so mean to _everyone_… I bet if I was gone no one would care; hell, they'd probably throw a party! Not that I'd blame them._

For the first time in his life, Otogi thought about what it'd feel like to put a rope around his neck… or to put a blade to his wrist or even his throat… or to just take a whole bunch of pills…

Otogi shook his head. _No… everyone always says that's never the answer…_

_But what if it is?_

His whole world had been turned upside down. He had went from the bully to the bullied, and he finally understood just how much one, passing comment can hurt someone. Just how much one, mean laugh can break someone's heart. And how just one, hateful act can cause someone to feel… suicidal.

_All those times I was told "Your actions make a difference"… I never believed them, no one did. But they've obviously never been bullied or teased. I hadn't either, but now I have, and… _

_It's horrible._

_It's so horrible… _

_It's so horribly how just one person can change someone's life, or take someone's life. It's so horrible how people don't _realize_ what they do to others. It's so horrible that people would act so hatefully towards one another. It's so horrible how we just don't care unless it's us… It's so horrible how we outcast people just because they're different. It's so horrible how sometimes we even _tell_ people to go kill themselves… _

_It's so horrible. _

_Why is the world so horrible?_

_Why was _I_ so horrible? _

* * *

Marik was sitting in his room at his desk, doodling on a piece of scrap paper. He sighed with disdain as he thought yet again about what had happened yesterday, with that bully and Otogi. Ha, usually if Otogi was in the sentence you'd assume that he _was_ the bully… it was so odd how now the roles were reversed; he couldn't wrap his head around it.

"_Sorry I never did the same for you,"_ Otogi's words rang in his head. _Sorry_, Marik thought to himself, _he actually said he was sorry… and he sounded so sincere…_

Marik blew air through his lips and stood up, abandoning his meaningless doodle and deciding to take a walk around town to ease his mind. But he just kept thinking about how Otogi had been pushed up against that wall, his eyes flashing with fear and that desperate clawing… He couldn't take it, he just _had_ to take that asshole down! Marik found that his face had grown into a scowl, so he quickly straightened it out and faked a smile as he told his sister that he was going for a walk around town, maybe to the library or to that strip mall. She wished him a safe trip and then he was off, a total of 1544 yen in his pocket **(1)**.

At first he just walked around his block, stopping for a few seconds to look at where Ryou and Bakura lived (he still found it unfair to call it the "Bakuras" house). He smiled softly at the memory of that time Ryou gave him that pyramid, and he gave the twin his phone number… Which he hadn't used yet, but he might sometime, right? Marik shrugged it off and kept walking, not really wanting to see either of the white-haired twins for right now.

_I suppose I could call them the "pale twins,"_ Marik thought to himself, trying to solve the problem of what to call them both together, _or the "white twins," or even just the "light twins"… Maybe I could call them the "yin-yang" twins,_ Marik thought with a smile, since they did seem to be the exact opposite. Yes, for now they would be called the yin-yang twins in his mind. Now it almost seemed demeaning to just call Atem and Yugi the Mutou twins…

Marik chuckled to himself. He should really stop thinking so hard about things that didn't really matter, but he tended to over-analyze things and hold grudges. Of course, maybe he was getting better at letting things go if he already felt bad for Otogi… and he had apologized to Bakura, two times was it? Yes, twice now. And he had only known the boy for a week… Of course, he had only let those things go because it had seemed the most logical thing to do; after all, the first time they were both angry at each other and they both apologized, and the second time he had pushed the boy too far… of course, Bakura kind of deserved it but… Marik groaned to himself. Why the hell was he thinking about this stuff? What he wouldn't give to have his head full of meaningless things, like the latest TV show he watched, or even just _empty_, as many kids seemed to walk around in that state. Of course, when he thought about it, he'd probably get bored with those type of thoughts quickly… and honestly, he'd rather be tired of his usual thoughts than bored with them, of course maybe that's what causes most people to just try and stop thinking all together? They feel that everything's boring? They're obviously just not thinking of the right things –

Marik put a hand to his forehead. He _really_ needed to stop thinking _everything_ with such retrospection. It was going to cause him problems one day, hell it already caused him problems! If his over-thinking of Bakura calling him "perfect" was any proof.

And then for some unexplainable reason his head brought up Ryou's flustered face to the front of his mind, and he found himself smiling. Flustered; he had looked like that when he gave him his phone number… Which was actually new for him, he had never given anyone his phone number before, but he had to admit, the way he did was pretty smooth…

Marik took in a deep breath, but his mind still had that picture of Ryou first and foremost in his mind. How could one boy, no, _person_, look so… cute? It boggled his mind… especially considering his twin and how un-cute he was.

As Marik walked closer and closer to the library, he just thought that maybe he could… ask him out. After all, he had never thought he'd be able to give anyone his phone number and that had gone surprisingly well, and certainly saying something as simple as, "Hey, wanna go to the movies with me sometime?" would be easy… right? After all, other people did it all the time, didn't they? And certainly it wouldn't do any harm to spend some alone time with the boy, get to know him a little better. And besides, no one would even think twice about it, since everyone thought Ryou was a girl…

Marik shut his eyes tight. He had to think for a minute, was he only asking Ryou out to make everyone think he was straight? He knew he wouldn't do that on purpose, but subconsciously…? Was he tired of feeling so different and just wanted to feel… normal? Or accepted? Sure, the "Friendship Gang" already liked and accepted him, but after high school he would probably never see them again and most people won't be as accepting as those guys, maybe he wanted to prepare for that? Of course then there was the other option: did he just like Ryou for, Ryou?

Marik decided it was probably the latter, since even _he_ had to admit that he had started to like the 'girl' before he even knew that 'she' was actually a he… but what if the former was a subconscious reason he liked the boy? Marik didn't want to "use" anyone, even if it was accidental, so he decided he wouldn't take the chance… he'd wait till he got his answer, of course how he was supposed to get that answer he had no idea but… He found himself smiling as he thought: _Besides, it'd probably be a good idea to actually get to know him better, so that it's not just a "crush" anymore… _Marik found his cheeks inflaming. Exactly what the hell did he mean by that statement…?

Unfortunately (or maybe it _was_ fortunately), he couldn't over-think this as he soon heard his name being called: "Ishtar?"

Marik whirled around to see a former homophobe standing in front of him. "Otogi," he said, a little shocked at finding him here, "What are you…" it was then that Marik paused briefly, wondering if he should keep up his previous act of being a love-struck fool or just be himself. Well, it depended, was he aborting the plan yet…?

In the end, Marik decided no and smiled brightly. "Otogi-kun! Fancy meeting you here, what'cha up to?"

Otogi looked at him oddly. "I'm just walking around… Why are you acting like that anyways?" he asked.

Marik sighed inside. He thought that question might pop up eventually from him. He smiled with mock cluelessness and said, "Acting like what?"

Otogi shook his head. "You know exactly what I mean, you're acting like some…" he scrunched his eyebrows together, "… flirty teenage girl, honestly. And that's being nice about it. You're usually tougher and have more self-respect than _that_, so why? Is this just how you act around someone you like?"

Marik shuddered slightly at his last sentence. Great, Otogi _did_ think he liked him… of course, how could he expect the boy to think any differently with how he'd been acting? Although, he couldn't help but feel a little… happy, he supposed, at Otogi calling him "tough" and "respectable," in his own way of course. Maybe proud was a better explanation of how he felt.

In the end, the Egyptian shrugged with a smile, "Honestly? I wanted to see what it was like." Well, it wasn't _completely_ a lie; he _did_ want to see what acting like that would feel like. He decided that while it was fun to mess with people's heads like that, he much preferred the way he usually acted, so maybe he'd start acting like himself around the raven-haired boy now.

Otogi stared at him oddly, almost as if he was afraid of something… but of what? "Listen to me Ishtar-san," he said. Marik couldn't help but notice the first-ever use of the honorific "san" added to his name before Otogi continued: "Don't ever pretend to be like someone you're not, it'll only lead to trouble… even if it seems being someone else would be a great thing, don't do it, just don't…" Otogi looked away, suddenly going silent.

Marik got the succinct impression that Otogi was _not_ talking about him. But then, if he was talking about himself, then did that mean that he had just been _acting_ like a jerk…? He was damn good at it then. "… Wanna go get a drink or something?" Marik asked, feeling the need to comfort his previous arch-nemesis. Though he had to admit he had an alternative; he wanted to figure out the force behind Otogi's previous words.

Otogi seemed shocked, then he hesitated, taking out his phone and glancing at it, probably for the time. He bit his lips absently before saying, "Yeah…"

Marik found himself grinning as he turned around and started walking, Otogi following him. It occurred to him briefly that he had pretty much asked Otogi out, but what really classified "Going out"? To him, they were just two people going to go get a drink; nothing more, nothing less. "There's this little coffee shop over this way that I like, but don't worry, they have more than just -"

"Can I ask you something?" Otogi interrupted.

Marik stopped walking and turned to him. "Sure," he said, "What is it?"

"It's just… I thought you hated me," Otogi creased his eyebrows, obviously confused.

Marik blinked at him before smirking. "I thought _you_ hated _me_."

He had the pleasure of witnessing Otogi blush before looking away, rubbing the back of his head awkwardly, and saying, "Touché…" Marik just laughed and continued walking. "So, when did you start liking me…?" Otogi asked hesitantly.

Marik just kept walking as he answered back, "Um… You know I'm not really sure," since he figured that'd be the safest answer.

"Right…" Otogi said, kind of disappointed. "Have you ever gone on a date before?" he asked as he caught up and walked next to him.

Marik smiled weakly. "Well, I've gotten a few offers, but they weren't exactly… my _type_," he admitted.

Otogi laughed. "Oh, I see… You know, I gotta feel bad for all the girls out there," he looked at Marik with a smirk, "you realize you're a chick magnet right?"

Marik groaned. "Why does everyone _say_ that!" he complained. It was true, he's heard that so many times, but just phrased differently. Even his sister told him that! It was really starting to annoy him.

Otogi laughed so hard he had to stop walking and hold his stomach. "Most guys would count that as a good thing!" he said between his boisterous laughter.

Marik stopped and looked at him. "Well, it's not exactly a good thing for me to hear."

"But think about it!" Otogi said with a smirk, "If you're a chick magnet, then that means you're also a, um… other, magnet…" he finished awkwardly.

Now it was Marik's turn to laugh hard. "You can't even say it can you?"

"… Not really."

"Unless you're insulting someone," Marik brought up.

Otogi looked away uncomfortably. "… Yeah… Sorry about that."

"Don't mention it," Marik gave a short laugh and started walking again, "if I let every comment like that get to me I'd be six feet under."

"Do you really get that many?" Otogi asked with surprise as he walked next to him again. He looked at him curiously.

"Well," Marik shrugged, "depends what year. Up till sixth grade it didn't _really _matter, we were all kind of just figuring that stuff out and made kiddy jokes, but nothing serious. Then they started a little in seventh grade, and eighth was the absolute worst. This school's a lot better, except for a few people," he glanced at Otogi who looked away ashamedly. "Other than that, I'd say I don't really get _that_ many, but it's enough to make someone who isn't self-confident feel like killing themselves."

Otogi stared at the ground, taking that all in. So he had to deal with the jokes in seventh grade… Now he felt even worse about all the things he's said. He never took in to account that the people he picked on and teased probably heard dozens of those types of comments a day or week…

"You really don't know how good you look?" Otogi asked after a while, trying to change the subject.

Marik chuckled and looked at him with a smirk. "Isn't that a matter of opinion?"

Otogi blushed slightly. "It's a generalization!" he exclaimed angrily, causing Marik to laugh a bit. "I've heard many girls talk about how they wished you weren't, um…" he paused here for a bit before saying, "playing for the other team."

Marik held a hand up to his head and started laughing again. "I find it _very_ amusing how you can't say the word "gay" – it's all right you know, I don't really care."

Otogi shook his head. "You're different you know that?" he said before smirking. "But anyways, you're also exotic. Girls go nuts over stuff like that."

"Really?" Marik asked, simply amused now. How long was Otogi going to compliment his looks before he realized what he was doing?

"Oh definitely! Sometimes I pretend to be born from America or France or some place and was just raised in Japan. They think it's cool or something to be a foreigner. I don't really understand why, but it works." Otogi shrugged.

"Are you saying that half of the relationships you have are based on a lie?" Marik asked with a raised brow.

Otogi hesitated. "Well… Just the ones that aren't from school, since everyone knows me there, and I wouldn't really call them "relationships"…" he put a hand to his face to hide it, "that just sounds horrible, doesn't it?"

"No offense Otogi, but you're known for being horrible," Marik answered back honestly.

Otogi sighed deeply and hunched forward a little, looking depressed. "I didn't… _mean_ for that to happen… It just did. And I just went with it…"

Marik looked at him before patting his back, trying to be comforting. "Well… maybe you'll feel better after a drink," he said, unsure of what to say to that.

* * *

"You realize no one's going to hire us right?" Bakura told Ryou as they walked through the streets of Domino, "I mean, who's going to hire a couple of fourteen-year-olds?"

"Well with that attitude no one _is_ going to hire us!" Ryou told him with a smile. Bakura had been talking about how hopeless it was to search for a job ever since they left their house that morning.

"Think about it Ry," Bakura said as he made wild gestures with his hands, "we're young and inexperienced. No boss wants to deal with a couple of kids."

"You just have to stay positive 'Kura," Ryou responded, pointing lazily at the sky, "as long as we show that we're determined and willing to learn I'm sure we'll find a job somewhere."

Bakura snorted. "One of these days that positivity of yours is going to disappoint you big time. Luckily for me, I live in _reality_."

Ryou rolled his eyes, sighed, and turned around to face his brother. "What's on your mind 'Kura?"

"Why do you always assume something's on my mind? Why can't you just accept that this is my personality?" Bakura glared slightly at Ryou who just raised an eyebrow skeptically at him. After a while of this, Bakura sighed and said, "It's nothing…"

Ryou giggled. "Yes, I'm sure it's _nothing_," he said with a wink before continuing to walk forward.

Bakura stared at his twin for a while before fast-walking up to him and putting an arm around his shoulders to walk with him. "I mean, don't get me wrong, I want a job and all so we can finally get cell phones, but the odds are zero to one!" He smirked and whispered in Ryou's ear, "Besides, if push comes to shove I can just pickpocket again."

"Bakura!" Ryou pushed the arm off his shoulders and gave the boy an angry look. "What would dad say?"

Bakura groaned irritably and glared at him. "You always have to bring dad up, don't you!"

"Well he was the only one who could make you do things!"

Bakura narrowed his eyes at Ryou and said quietly. "You've gotten me to do _plenty_ of things over the course of our lives."

Ryou smiled slightly before clarifying, "Well, he was the only one who could convince you not to steal."

Bakura chuckled. "I suppose _that's_ a correct statement… but he is a hypocrite, considering he stole something pretty important when we were children."

Ryou's eyes widened in surprise. "Dad stole? What did he steal?"

Bakura smiled and ruffled Ryou's hair. "If he didn't tell you then it's not my place to."

"Oh come on!" Ryou said as he pushed at Bakura's hand and pouted slightly at him. "Tell me!" he whined.

Bakura shook his head. "Usually I would, but not this time. Now, weren't we searching for jobs a few moments ago?" he asked with a sly smirk.

Ryou made a "Hmph" sound and turned on his heels to continue walking, Bakura just followed with a silent chuckle. Ryou sighed to himself, looking ahead for any places that had the "Help Wanted" sign in their doors. So far, he wasn't finding much; the only place so far that needed help was a bar, and there was no way they could work there (although Bakura did say he could forge an ID and work there, but he was kidding. Or at least, Ryou _hoped_ he was kidding. There was no way a 14-year-old could pretend to be 20 anyways!).

The boy was actually beginning to lose hope. If he could just find a place that would at least _interview_ them, or even _needed_ help, then he'd feel a little better because he was sure they would get hired. They were good workers! They knew how to do a lot of things too and were willing to learn new things! Yes, he was sure they'd find a job by –!

"You know Ryou," Bakura interrupted Ryou's inner pep-talk to himself. "We may not be able to get a job in the same place…" he stated with hidden dismay. This was why they needed cell phones, so they could call each other if they were apart. Of course, not being apart at all would be the most preferable, but…

"I wouldn't worry about that Bakura," Ryou told his older brother with a smile as he slipped his hand in his and intertwined their fingers, "I do know karate –"

Bakura interrupted with a mean-sounding laugh. "Oh right, when was the last time you practiced karate? Three years ago?"

Ryou gave a small pout. "Hey! I have a good memory! And I _was_ a black-belt –"

"Yeah, as soon as you got that thing you ran out of the karate class and _begged_ dad to take you out of the class 'cause you didn't like hurting people! I don't think you've even _looked_ at a karate move since then!" Bakura said, accompanied with more laughter.

Ryou glared at his brother and tightened the grip on his hand before untwining their fingers so he could turn it swiftly to the side, twisting his brother's wrist. "Ow!" Bakura said before getting out of the hold and glaring at Ryou. But the glare didn't last long before it turned into a smirk. He ruffled Ryou's hair and said, "Okay, you're still like a feisty chiwawa."

"Oh, stop with that already!" Ryou said crossly as he pushed Bakura's hand off his head and glared at him. "I am not like a chiwawa!-!"

Bakura chuckled and turned to continue walking in the direction they were going. "Okay, sure. But I have to say, I don't wanna be around you when you get _super_ mad. Although I kind of wished you would've shown Otogi what you were made of last week."

Ryou groaned and covered his face with one of his hands. "You're not going to let that go are you?"

"Ryou, you knocked the guy cold out. Why in the _world_ would I let that go?"

"Because I didn't mean to!" Ryou poked his brother's back, "You know I do things I wouldn't normally do when I'm angry. Thank goodness I rarely _do_ get angry!"

"Yeah, most of the bad things that happen to you make you sad and depressed. Personally I'd go with the anger," Bakura smirked at Ryou. "Doesn't it feel good to let all that emotion out on some guy who deserves it?"

Ryou gave his brother a stern look. "_No_. It makes me feel guilty! I'd rather be sad by myself than take it out on someone else and feel all that guilt."

Bakura shook his head. "Still, you should stand up for yourself. You can _obviously_ take care of yourself, but the problem is you _won't_."

"I'm a pacifist," Ryou said with a shrug before smiling and taking Bakura's hand again. "Besides, as long as I have you I don't need to."

"…" Bakura said nothing as he tightened his grip and looked away. "You have all of this figured out don't you?"

"Yup!" Ryou chirped happily, giggling when Bakura groaned.

They walked down the street like that, hand-in-hand, while Ryou thought about that one guy he had knocked out when they were younger. He had just made him _so mad_. What did the perpetrator do exactly? He said some… _things_ that really got to him… Ryou could take senseless, pointless pain, he didn't really care about that, but try to attack something of his that _wasn't_ physical? Don't try it. Although it is true that most of the time any emotional hardships he has he just takes and deals with them by himself, usually with sadness. There are only certain trigger words or instances where he'll just snap, and Bakura wouldn't _ever_ let him forget about them… Sometimes Ryou felt like Bakura said some things on purpose just to get him that mad again. Which was probably true. Although most of the time he just took the abuse and didn't let it bother him, the main reason being he did _not_ like to hurt people _at all_. It just made him feel heavy with guilt and apologetic. Besides, he's learned most of the time that if you don't give the bullies the satisfaction of letting them see their torture or pain-bringing bother you that they generally leave you alone. That's all most bullies want – a reaction. Plus, most of the time they were just mad at Bakura for something or another that he did and took it out on Ryou since they knew he wouldn't protect himself, but even after a while of that they generally left him alone since, as he heard one claim as they walked away from just punching him in the gut and knocking the wind out of him, "He's so _boring_ to beat up!" Also, his dad always told him that most bullies just have a bad home life, or something happened in their lives that they don't know how to deal with in a positive way so they take it out on others, so he'd only tell on them when he felt that it was getting too hard to handle. Another secret reason he didn't try to stop them was because… he sees Bakura in each and every one of those brutes, and he wouldn't want to hurt his own brother…

Of course, sometimes he's was really bothered by the fact that bullies and jerks just seemed drawn to him. It made him think… did he really look _that _easy to pick on? _That_ weak? _That_ defenseless? He and Bakura knew that he could defend himself if his life was in danger, but Bakura's fear was that he wouldn't realize it was a life-or-death situation until too late. Of course he knew that he'd be driven by panic and fight eventually, but what if he suffered severe injuries before that? Neither of them knew, and neither of them knew how to prevent that altogether since the world is a dangerous, unpredictable place, and you can't really guarantee anything.

"Hey, cheer up Ryou," Bakura said, squeezing his hand a little and smiling softly at him. "No boss is going to hire a moping kid."

Ryou looked up at his big brother and smiled slightly. "You're right 'Kura…" He turned his head to look forward again, and was immediately met with a "Help Wanted" sign in a store window, of a cell phone shop! "Bakura, look! If we get jobs there then we might get a discount on our cell phones!-!"

Bakura looked ahead and saw the sign and turned to Ryou with a smirk. "Race you!" he said before taking off.

"Bakura!-! No boss is going to hire an _energetic_ kid!" Ryou teased playfully before running after him.

* * *

"One mango smoothie and a hot chocolate please," Marik ordered at his favorite coffee shop, _It's All Good_ **(2)**. The cashier smiled at him before saying, "Coming right up!" and disappeared into the back room to start making his order. Marik sighed contentedly at the familiar sights and smells. It was a small shop, with wooden floors and ceilings and white-plaster walls. Wooden, rustic tables and chairs, magazines placed tactfully around the room, and even a giant checkerboard game set up on one of the walls. Not to mention the calming smell of coffee and sweets, made all the better by the fact that he didn't have to wait long before the lady came back with his order, the hot chocolate in a round, green, porcelain cup with a handle and the smoothie in a see-through plastic cup with a lid and straw. "Here you go," she said happily as Marik traded the drinks for money. "Thank you," he said politely as he walked back to where Otogi was waiting.

Otogi had been looking at a car magazine, but he looked up when Marik handed him his hot chocolate. "Thanks," he said as he took the hot drink and took a cautious sip.

"No problem," Marik responded as he sat down and started drinking his smoothie. He usually got a double caramel cream mocha, but decided to get a smoothie since it was a pretty warm day out. "I'm surprised you don't like coffee though," he said to Otogi.

The boy shrugged. "I don't like the aftertaste, there are some coffees that I've actually liked," he said before taking another sip of his drink. "Interesting cup they give you," he commented.

Marik chuckled a bit. "I guess, I'm just surprised that you're not burning your tongue on that drink."

Otogi smiled and took a huge sip as if to show Marik that it was no problem at all and that he should be amazed. "It doesn't bother me."

Marik shook his head with a smile, and then a comfortable silence washed over them as Otogi continued looking at his magazine and Marik looked around the shop like he always did. Of course, the silence ended when Otogi asked quietly, "Do you think I can change?"

Marik looked back at him, seeing his hopeful, sad expression. "I don't see why not," Marik responded. "Anyone can change."

Otogi sighed. "I know _anyone_ can change," Otogi said uncomfortably, looking away, "I guess my real question is… will people accept me if I change?"

"… Well, that's a little more complicated," Marik said truthfully as he put his elbow on the table and leaned his head against his hand. He drank some of his smoothie before saying, "I think most people will, if they see that you're serious about changing. Though I wouldn't expect most of the girl's to change their minds so quickly, and you probably shouldn't ask anyone out anytime soon."

Otogi groaned and slouched in his chair. "Trust me, after today I'm _done_ with dating for a while."

Marik's eyes widened. "Really?" he asked as a smile etched its way onto his face. "That might take care of most of your problems. Oh, and you can't flirt either."

"What?" Otogi asked, already dreading the thought of that, "Why not?"

Marik laughed. "Usually you only flirt with people if you like them, and if you don't want to date anytime soon then you shouldn't flirt either."

Otogi groaned again. "But what if I don't know how else to talk to a girl?"

"Then I'd get some practice if I were you."

"Yeah right, who's going to practice with the biggest jerk in the school?" Otogi asked doubtfully with a roll of his eyes.

Marik grinned. "I think Amora might."

Otogi glared at Marik. "Are you crazy? That chick hates my guts!"

Marik smirked before saying, "People can change."

"…" Otogi was silent as he took that in. He crossed his arms and said, "You like using what people say against them huh?" he made a scoffing noise, "Just like that Bakura kid."

"… I suppose," Marik said before drinking slurping up more of his smoothie. "I wouldn't expect him to change his attitude toward you anytime soon either."

"Eh, I don't blame him," Otogi said before drinking more hot chocolate. "I mean, not after what I did to his sister," he sighed sadly, "I feel really bad about that…"

"Then why'd you do it?" Marik asked curiously; that question had been bothering him for a while, since Marik knew he usually didn't do stuff like that _during_ school.

Otogi stared at Marik seriously before looking down into his cup. "Because I'm a "ladies' man"… and my "friends" dared me to…"

~!~!~!~

"_Hey Ryuji-san," the boy's right hand man said at the lunch table. "You got your eye on that white-haired chick, right?" _

"_Yeah," Otogi answered with a smirk. "She's hot, isn't she?" He really did think that; he wouldn't mind getting to know Ryou better, he just wished she'd flirt back a little. _

"_I don't know if she's worth it man," another of his posse said, "I mean, her brother looks like he's ready to snap any second." _

"_But that just adds to the danger and excitement!" Otogi answered. Honestly, Bakura scared the crap out of him, but when he had come back the first day he had met Ryou and said that she didn't seem interested, the guys immediately protested and told him not to give up until she was putty in his hands like the rest. Well, almost the rest, but they didn't talk about the other times. _

"_If it's _danger_ you want," another one with spiky black hair said, "then go over there and kiss her." _

"… _In front of her brother?" Otogi said, trying to get out of this almost dare. He was pretty certain that if he did that, he'd be put into a hospital. "I may enjoy the thrilling danger, but I don't want to actually, you know, _die_. Besides, we haven't even gone out yet –" _

"_Why does that matter? Isn't this the guy who made out with a chick he just met?" _

_Otogi took a second before smiling proudly. "Right, I forgot about that." _

_Lies. _

_That never happened; he just said it did to seem cool, and he only told his "friends" that. He didn't know they'd spread that rumor all over school and never let him forget it. He wished he never made that up, he wished he never made up _half_ the things he said, but he had to just go with it. He always had to go with it if he wanted to be "cool," so he did. Besides, he actually did enjoy flirting with all the girls, especially when they seemed flattered by it. It made him feel confident, although sometimes it made him feel a little _too_ confident and then he got cocky and started acting like a jerk, as he's learned, but he wasn't exactly sure how to stop himself when he got like that…_

"_See? So go over there!" the guy taunted him more. _

_Otogi paused to think for a moment before saying, "It's during school though, I don't wanna get caught." _

"_You're "afraid of getting caught?" When'd you turn into such a _pansy_ Ryuji-_chan_." _

_Otogi glared at him, seething with anger. The guys always called him gay or something whenever he wouldn't do what they wanted, because they knew that got to him. Sometimes he wondered if they knew that he didn't know, if they knew that he was questioning it, but he knew that couldn't be true. They'd _never_ let him hang out with them if they thought he really _was_ gay, even if he was the so-called "leader." "Shut up man! You know that's not true." _

"_Then prove it! Hey, look, one of us will distract Bakura and then you can go over and do your thing!" _

_Otogi shook his head. "I'm telling you guys, it wouldn't be a smart move. With a girl like Ryou you gotta take things slow or else you won't get anywhere –" _

"_Doesn't it bother you that she looks too much like her brother?" one of the blonde boys interrupted him. "I mean, there's no way I could kiss her without thinking I was kissing her brother – "_

"_Gay," someone interrupted within a fake cough. _

"_Shut up man!" the blonde said as he pushed the guy lightly. _

"_It's not really much of a problem," Otogi interrupted before they could get into an actual fight, and to divert attention away from "gay" comments. "I mean, they might be twins, but Ryou gives off a certain female vibe, you know?" _

"_I think it's just a cover-up so Ryuji-_chan_ can pretend it's Bakura," the guy who originally dared Otogi mumbled under his breath. _

_Otogi threw one of his chopsticks at him. "Go to hell!" he said with a glare. "You're the one who wants me to go over there!" _

"_So then stop being such a wuss and prove you want Ryou and not her brother," he challenged. _

_Otogi glared at him and sighed, defeated. Obviously the guys wouldn't let him live this down unless he did this stupid thing, so he'll just do it. "Fine, whatever. One of you boneheads distract Bakura then." _

~!~!~!~

"Needless to say, going over there was a _huge_ mistake," Otogi finished as he drank the rest of his hot chocolate.

Marik stared at him. "Why do you hang out with those jerks?"

Otogi sighed. "I've been friends with them since I was in 4th grade… but I don't think we're actually "friends" anymore, they're all either ignoring or mocking me now." Otogi looked at the table sadly, and Marik could only imagine what it was like to have these people who you _thought_ were your friends and have them tease you the next day… It probably wasn't a very good feeling. "Bakura was behind all those pranks, right?" Otogi asked after a while. "I mean, he's the one who found my diary and put that one thing on my MP3, so it makes sense that he'd do all the other stuff too…" Otogi looked Marik in the eyes and said, "And I swear, I did _not_ call you and leave that message, that was probably him too. Though how he did such a good impression I'll never know…"

Marik looked at Otogi and sighed. "He… had a little help," Marik said, looking away from him.

Otogi looked at Marik and understood completely. "Oh…" Otogi said sadly. "Then… You don't actually like me then…"

"Not that way, no… sorry."

"That's why you were acting like that," he said with a little laugh, causing Marik to glance at him. "I guess I don't really blame you, after the way I'd been treating you…" it was then that Otogi caught sight of a clock on the wall and noticed that he'd be late for his next date if he didn't leave – right now! "Oh crap! Sorry Ishtar-san, I gotta go, see ya!"

Otogi stood up and started walking away when he heard, "You can call me Marik if you want."

Otogi turned around and looked at him. He was still sitting, but smiling too, and the dice-enthusiast couldn't help but smile back and say, "Okay, and you can call me Ryuji, Marik-san."

Marik smiled bigger and stood up, grabbing Otogi's cup and carrying his still half-full smoothie. "I'll walk you out."

* * *

"Do you think the interview went well?" Ryou asked Bakura worriedly as they walked out of the cell-phone store. "I hope it went well…!"

"Ryou, _relax_. The guy said he liked us, remember?" Bakura tried calming his brother down.

"I know, but what if he was just being nice? Or what if there's someone more qualified for the job? Or what if –"

"What happened to that positivity of yours?" Bakura asked irritably.

"It jumped out of the cell-phone store window as soon as the interview started."

"Well I do wish you'd become reacquainted with it."

Ryou giggled. "I think I just did," he smiled at Bakura. "You really think we got the job?"

Bakura shrugged. "I can't say for certain, but I think we have a pretty good shot."

Ryou smiled happily and started walking with a small bounce in his step, causing Bakura to roll his eyes and smile amusedly at his little brother. They walked on for a while, deciding to see if there were any other places they could apply to before going home, when Bakura saw a familiar shade of brown out of the corner of his eyes. He turned his head, and his eyes immediately widened as he saw an eerie sight.

Marik and that _jerk_ Otogi were coming out of a coffee shop… and they were both smiling and laughing. Otogi waved once before walking off and Marik waved back before walking in the opposite direction.

… What. The. _Hell?-!_

What was Marik doing with someone he supposedly _hated_, and why were they in a coffee shop and having a seemingly good time? Did Marik actually _like_ Otogi? But he seemed like he couldn't _stand_ the jerk! And why would he agree to a revenge scheme if he didn't hate him? Had that annoying Egyptian just been _using_ him so he could get close to Otogi? Bakura began to feel his blood boil at that last thought.

_Okay, think logically_, Bakura began to think to himself, _maybe he's just acting again, trying to hurt him even more…?But would he actually go on a date just for a revenge scheme that's already worked? Not likely_… Bakura's vision began to blur with anger as he realized that Marik _was_ just using him, what other reasonable choice was there? Maybe Marik _did_ like the guy and just needed him to be knocked down a few pegs in the social ladder so they could actually be together. Maybe he was just going along with Bakura's plan to get closer to Otogi… And here he thought he was someone he could trust, someone who could possibly be a friend… Obviously he was wrong; and Ryou wondered why he didn't trust people, they can't be trusted.

_That bastard! How dare he lie to me, how dare he _use_ me, how dare he make me think for one second that we could be friends…! You're just like all the rest!_

"Bakura? Is something wrong?" Ryou's concerned voice interrupted Bakura's thoughts.

"Huh? Yeah, everything's fine," came the hasty reply.

Ryou bit the inside of his cheek. "You're crying…" he said quietly.

Bakura held a hand up to his eyes and found that somehow liquid had formed there… "It's just the wind," Bakura said, wiping the water away from his eyes. They were _not_ tears, it was the wind; all the wind… that stupid, annoying, back-stabbing wind's fault…

Ryou stared at his brother, not exactly sure that to do. He had _never_ seen Bakura cry before, he assumed he could and did sometimes, but the fact was that he had never seen it; Bakura was always careful to hide it, so what could be so troubling that he couldn't hide it this time…? "Bakura, if something's wrong, you can –"

"I said it's just the _wind_ Ryou, let it _go!_" Bakura snapped.

Ryou bit his lip before hugging his brother. "Bakura, you can tell me anything… We've always told each other everything, haven't we?"

It took Bakura a second before hugging his brother back, and it took even longer for him to reply, "I'm afraid not "everything" Ryou…"

Ryou felt his heart tighten at Bakura's words, though he wasn't sure why. He had always known that Bakura kept his secrets, but for some reason he thought the boy didn't have any with him… He always told Bakura everything, he _was_ his brother after all. "… Oh…" was all Ryou could respond in the end, tightening the grip around his twin's waist.

Bakura bit his lip, his shoulders shaking. "I'm sorry…" he whispered.

"Why are you sorry?" Ryou said, lifting his head to smile at Bakura. "We all have our secrets I guess…" Ryou was even more disgruntled now to see that more tears were leaking down his brother's face, and worse, Bakura didn't seem to notice _or_ care. "So don't be sorry."

Bakura closed his eyes, finally feeling the hot tears in his eyelids. He managed a smirk and opened one blurry eye to look at his brother's hazy outline. "I guess after years of holding it all in, I had to let it out sometime, right?"

Ryou smiled back weakly before kissing him on the cheek and hugging him tightly again. "I guess so… Let's go home, Kura."

* * *

**(1)**: About 20 American dollars.

**(2)**: This actually is a coffee shop, I'm just not sure if it's available in Japan. Probably not, but I'm bad with names ^^;

**This seemed like a good place to end :3 **

~~~{REVIEW REPLIES}~~~

**Vi**: I'm glad you loved the past chapter~! ^^ I hope you enjoyed this one as well, as you should feel even worse for Otogi now XD This chapter's lengthy too (obviously), but I like them that way. Sorry for not updating for so long, but at least I did today…! Right? ^^; Ehehe… *shot*  
Thank you for reviewing~! I always love your reviews =D And your penname is cool =)

**Fresh** **kurrio**: I'm glad you like the story so far, and I'm glad you think it sums up high school well! (Minus Ryou of course XDD). I wanted to make this seem like a regular high school with some added twists, so I'm glad I'm succeeding ^^ And don't worry, Yami Marik will appear _eventually_, in the story. I just… can't say for certain, _when,_ exactly… Eheheh *shot* And you should feel even worse for Otogi now… XD Haha… Sorry for not updating soon, but thank you for reviewing! =)

[**Blank**]: Thank you for your review! I'm glad you like the story so far, and that was a cool emoticon!-!

**I know most of you will probably say Bakura's OOC for crying, but you don't know all of his past yet… *shifty gaze* besides, Otogi gets more OOC (I think) in the next chapter so I really don't care… XD It's called character development people!-!-! Lol. Anyways! Thoughts, opinions, concerns? I'd like to hear them all! Also, did this seem realistic? At all? To anyone? No? Okay, glad I have that established… **

**And now I feel the need to explain the chapter title: "Changes" for the changes inside Otogi, and "with the wind" was something I put at the end to tie in to when Bakura blames the wind for the water in his eyes. It also explains the theme of teenagers a little bit: we change with the wind… Basically, we go with whatever we like or think is cool and just go with it (if that made any sense to anybody), or at least most teenagers do, I don't wanna accuse anyone of being a stereotypical teen since most of you are probably writers and therefore NOT the average teen ;). So yeah, deep chapter title XD (Reality: I was stuck for a title…)**

**I also swear that I did not plan on there being so much angst in this story… **

**Review please~! Your reviews make me happy and give me encouragement to write a story that you enjoy~! **


	11. Gossip Spreads Fast

**This chapter's so long already that I don't want to make it any longer by adding long author's notes… so, I'm sorry for the long wait, but hopefully this makes up for it! (Hopefully). **

Chapter 11: Gossip Spreads Fast (As the Wind Blows)

* * *

"Marik! Someone's at the door for you!" Marik's sister, Isis, called from the front door.

"Coming sis!" Marik responded before getting up from his desk. It was a typical Saturday night, nothing really exciting happening; he had finished all of his homework and was currently doodling another random drawing while he waited to go to sleep. Nothing out of the ordinary.

But Otogi appearing at his doorstep? Definitely out of the ordinary. Of course, considering earlier at the coffee shop, maybe he shouldn't have been so surprised, especially since it was seven o'clock…

"Hey…" Otogi said awkwardly, rubbing his arm and looking anywhere except at the handsome Egyptian boy. "… Can I… Can I come in…?" he asked in a way that expected rejection.

"… Yeah, sure, come on in," Marik responded, wondering why Otogi looked even more forlorn than usual. Well, usual for recent times anyways…

Otogi stepped into the house and Marik closed the door behind him. The Egyptian was glad his sister had left when he'd come to answer the door, otherwise this would be way more awkward than it already was…

"So," Marik started, causing the raven-haired boy to look at him for the first time. His eyes were red and puffy, and it was obvious he had been crying… the sight distracted Marik for a second, but he quickly regained his train of thought and said, "Wanna come to my room? Or -?"

"Yeah," Otogi interrupted before Marik could say anything else. The host nodded and started walking to his room, the depressed-looking boy following after him.

That's how it came to this: Marik sitting cross-legged at the head of his bed, Otogi on the other side still trying to avoid his gaze… "Is something wrong Oto – er, Ryuji-san?" Marik asked, remembering that he could stop calling him "Otogi" now. _That_ would take some getting used to.

The boy in question was still staring at the bed sheets, looking like he hadn't heard a word Marik said. He was about to repeat his question when Otogi spoke up: "I had seventeen dates this weekend... Five yesterday, six today, and six tomorrow… Eight cancelled, leaving me with three dates for each day… Only two showed up yesterday, and only one showed up today… Of course, maybe the date I had planned for right now would have shown up, but I called and cancelled…"

"…" Marik wasn't exactly sure how to respond to what he just said, so he decided to ask, "Why'd you cancel?" in a soft voice.

"… I just, couldn't handle another disappointment I guess…" the boy responded, putting his head down even more than it already was.

"…" once again, Marik was speechless. What was he supposed to say?

"You wanna know why I was so against gays?" Otogi spoke up again, startling Marik somewhat.

"Yeah, sure," Marik responded smartly.

"It's just… my dad. Growing up he always said they were bad people or whatever… he kept filling my head with all these stories about them being confused and misguided and naïve and just… evil, I think he said once…" Otogi took in a deep breath and let it out slowly before continuing. "One day, I hugged one of my friends… We were young, in like, third grade, you know? The time when personal space meant nothing and we were all really friendly? My dad got mad, told me that it was wrong to hug other guys, said if I ever did it again that he'd hurt me…" at this point, Marik saw something that looked distinctly like a tear drop from his face and into his lap. "… He told me I wouldn't be his son anymore…"

Marik's eyes widened, and suddenly he was filled with pity for the boy in front of him. He understood what it was like to be hurt by your father… he understood it a lot. He opened his mouth in an attempt to say something comforting when Otogi spoke up again, "Then, when I was in fifth grade and I told him that I liked this one girl in my class, he seemed really happy… He told me to talk to her, be smooth; he gave me a bunch of advice on how to "talk to the ladies" and how to "be a ladies' man" and stuff…" Otogi's hands clenched up into a shaky fist before he continued. "He was always really happy when I told him about girls… so I guess I thought, since that's what my dad wanted, I'd become one of the cool kids so I could talk to a lot of girls and make him happy… and then, in seventh grade, I finally met one of the people my dad always told me to never become, and I just… started making fun of him. After all, if my dad hated them, then they _must_ be bad, right?" Otogi's voice had cracked on the word "right," and Marik almost felt like crying himself. What was he supposed to do? His ex-nemesis was telling him all this stuff… what was he supposed to do…?

"But then… I," Otogi's whole body was shaking now, and Marik felt the need to just touch his shoulder, or say or do _something_, but he still wasn't sure what to do. He wasn't exactly the best at comforting people… "Then I," Otogi started again, Marik still at a loss of what he should do. "I started to like this one kid in seventh grade… but I told myself I didn't and tried to stop thinking about it, but the thoughts just wouldn't go away…! No matter how hard I tried, they just… stayed… so I thought that maybe if I just mocked and teased gays all the time that I wouldn't think like that anymore; I would realize that being gay wasn't good, you know? I'd stop thinking like that… and when that didn't work, I tried to just, surround myself in girls, so to speak… I tried to get with as many girls as possible to prove that I wasn't gay, I wasn't something my dad hated…"

All was silent in Marik's room for what seemed like hours. Marik felt like the air was crushing him, and he was afraid to breathe, especially since Otogi was shaking and obviously trying very hard not to cry. For what seemed like the millionth time, Marik tried to say something only to be interrupted by Otogi again. He said in a strained, high-pitched voice, "I didn't know who to talk to… I didn't know what to do; it was all just so confusing. My mind was pulling me in a million different directions; my brain said one thing but my body said another, and sometimes I just wanted to scream…" Otogi looked up finally, and Marik could see the tears streaming his face, the running mascara, the pure expression of agony and confusion etched into every inch of his expression. "Did you ever feel like that?" he asked, more hot tears pouring from his eyes, tensed words somehow coming through his clogged throat. "Did you ever want to scream? Did you ever want to run away from it all?"

Marik opened his mouth to speak, but nothing would come out at first. He tried multiple times until eventually a hoarse "Yes" escaped his throat.

Otogi shut his eyes tight and bowed his head again, digging his palms into his eye-sockets. "I was such a jerk… just because of what my dad thought… I know it sounds like I'm making excuses, and hell, maybe I am, but I just… I'm tired of it, I don't want to do this anymore…! There's too many opinions, too many "right" ways; what's the point of living in such a confusing world? A world where people can say something's right when it could be completely wrong? I hate it! I should just leave this –" Otogi couldn't speak anymore as Marik finally decided to do something besides sit there like an unfeeling idiot: slap the confused boy.

Otogi looked up at Marik to see a fierce expression on his face. "No," he said forcefully. "Don't even finish your sentence. I don't care _how_ bad your life gets, that's never the answer…!"Marik leaned in close to Otogi and spoke his next words in a harsh whisper, "Do you think people don't go through exactly what you're going through? There are people in the world who's parents _rape them_, who don't even have a place to call home, who probably wish they were dead every day, but you know what? They don't give up, and neither should you. If everyone gave up when life gets tough, hell! There'd be no more people on the planet!" Marik leaned back and looked at Otogi, who stared at him with wide eyes and a slightly parted mouth.

Eventually, the previous bully clenched his jaw and asked, "Then what should I do?" The words sounded so desperate as they scraped through his teeth. "No one at school likes me; acting like a jerk ensured me of that… My dad will kick me out of the house if he ever knows what I'm questioning, and I'm sick and tired of _everything!_ It's all so _stupid!_ What if the only answer _is_ death, huh Ishtar-san?" more tears flowed from his eyelids. "What if there's no hope for me anymore? I bet you no one will miss me when I'm gone –"

"Don't say that!" Marik interrupted with a yell. He quickly quieted his voice before saying, "I guarantee that a lot of people will miss you Otogi. I'm not exactly sure what I can do about your father… but on Monday, you can sit with me at lunch."

Otogi stared at Marik and almost felt like smiling. Almost. "Yeah right, no one at your table's gonna want me to sit there –"

"You really underestimate the Friendship Gang, Ryuji-san," Marik said, remembering to call him by his first name. "I bet that they'll accept you no problem. Well, maybe Bakura won't…" Marik added as an afterthought.

Otogi managed a small smile, but it didn't reach his eyes. "I really appreciate it, I really do Marik-san, but I just don't know…" more silent tears traveled down onto his shirt. "Why should I even be given a second chance after the way I've acted…"

"Because everyone deserves a second chance," Marik answered encouragingly. "As long as you really want to change, you deserve a second chance."

Otogi stared at Marik before looking down at the bed again. He wiped the tears from his eyes and stood up. "I think I'll go now –" he was stopped when Marik grabbed his arm. Otogi turned to him with a questioning look before tugging at his arm. "Hey, let go," he said weakly.

"You think I'm going to let you leave when you look suicidal?" Marik asked him like he was crazy. They stayed like that for a while, until Otogi sat back down on the bed, his legs planted firmly on the ground this time and his head still bowed. Marik let go of his arm slowly, almost expecting him to bolt as soon as he let go.

"How do you deal with it?" Otogi whispered.

Marik tilted his head to the side slightly and asked, "Deal with what?"

"All the comments," Otogi raised his voice only slightly, "the bullies, _me_; how'd you deal with it?"

Marik took a while to answer before saying, "Well, as you know I didn't really deal with it well, I can't even _count_ all the fights we've gotten into," Marik smiled slightly as Otogi let out a slight laugh. "You just have to realize that they're idiots who don't know anything and their opinions don't matter I guess, though sometimes they say things that really get to you…"

"So what do you do then?"

Marik smirked. "Well, I usually fight it out, but I haven't really had to "fight" in a while. Throwing a few punches is a different story. You _could_ just ignore the taunts and count to ten and all that nonsense."

Otogi shook his head slightly. "Ish – I mean, Marik-san, you're so… perfect."

Marik felt a shiver go down his spine at the word "perfect," and couldn't help but loathe the fact that it kept popping up. "Trust me, I'm far from perfect."

"Farther along than I'll ever be," Otogi said, turning his head away from Marik altogether.

Marik rolled his eyes. "Enough of this self-pity crap, what happened to the confident Otogi?"

The boy let out a short laugh before turning to smirk at Marik, the mischievousness slightly enhanced by the smeared mascara running down the right side of his face. "Is that the Otogi you like?"

Marik smiled back and rolled his eyes before saying. "It's the one I'm _used_ to, not… _this_," he gestured to the boy in front of him, causing said boy to laugh again. Marik smiled, finding he liked the sound of Otogi's laughter.

They stared at each other for a while, and before Marik knew what he was doing he started rubbing the mascara off of Otogi's face. "Wh-what are you doing?" the boy stuttered, his face turning red. He wasn't used to such personal contact form a guy; the most he'd had since that hug in third grade were high fives and fist pounds.

Marik just chuckled at the sight of the flustered boy. "Mascara is hardly attractive when it's running down your cheeks," was what he said in place of an explanation.

Otogi pushed Marik's hand away and started rubbing the mascara off himself. "Weirdo…" he mumbled.

Marik just laughed before asking, "Why'd you come here anyways?" he smirked before continuing, "Just to complain?"

Otogi stuck his tongue out at Marik. "As I said before, I came here because I couldn't handle it if another date didn't show up…"

"But why'd you come _here_, to my house?"

"…" Otogi shrugged before smiling sheepishly at him. "I guess I was just drawn to it… you can tell I wasn't really thinking straight when I came in. Maybe I was "reaching out" or whatever…"

Marik stared at him for a second before standing up and stretching. "Well, you're here now, so what do you want to do?"

"I don't know…" Otogi said sulkily before smirking and looking at the Egyptian with a mischievous glint in his eyes. "Make out?"

Marik glared at him. "And _you_ used to be a homophobe?"

Otogi laughed so hard that he had to clutch his stomach. Once he calmed down he said, "After yesterday and today, I don't think I'll ever be like that again. I think I might cancel my dates for tomorrow too… I need a break."

"_You're_ cancelling a date?" Marik said with a smile. "Oh my gosh, what is this world coming to?"

"Shut up!" Otogi said with a laugh as he pushed Marik's back lightly. "_You're_ the one who said I need to stop dating and flirting." They both laughed, and then a comfortable silence washed over them before Otogi looked away again and said timidly, "Marik-san, I… I think I'm going to tell my dad everything…"

Marik's eyes widened and he rubbed the back of his neck. "… Good for you," he said, and he really did mean it; not even Marik could tell his brother and sister about his preferences…

"… But," Otogi said, sounding nervous, "If… if my dad kicks me out, can I stay here? It's okay if you say no, I can find somewhere else…"

Marik stared at him for a while, pondering what would be the right thing to do. The facts were that Otogi didn't have many friends right now, there was a high possibility that he _would_ get kicked out of the house, and he'd have nowhere else to go… "I'd have to ask Isis and Rishid, but it should be fine."

Otogi gave him a grateful smile. "Thank you."

Marik couldn't help but smile back. "You're welcome. Now, what do you wanna do? _Besides_ what you said earlier?"

Otogi chuckled. "You can't say "making out" can you?"

"… It's uncomfortable for me."

Otogi laughed. "Okay, fair enough. Do you have any board games?"

"I think we have some in the basement."

"Then let's play!" Otogi said as he ran out of Marik's room.

Marik rolled his eyes and followed after him walking. "You don't know where the basement is!"

"Then hurry up and show me!" came the impatient reply.

* * *

"Bakura, please, you can tell me what's wrong," Ryou pleaded with the depressed-looking boy lying on the couch.

"I. Don't. Want. To. Talk about it!" he snapped angrily.

Ryou stood over his brother, his arms akimbo and an impatient look on his face. "I've let you just lie there ever since dinner at six. It's seven now Bakura, just tell me what's wrong! Only bad things happen when you brood about something for so long."

"I'm not brooding!" Bakura defended as he sat up and glared at his brother. "I'm contemplating life, something you _fail_ to do!" They glared at each other for a minute before Ryou sat on Bakura's back and crossed his arms. Bakura just groaned and laid his head back down. "You know this never works Ryou."

"I don't care; I'm not moving until you tell me what's wrong," Ryou said stubbornly.

"I can easily flip you over you realize…"

"I don't care. Plus, I know you won't."

Bakura growled. "Oh, you know me _so well,_ don't you? Then why don't you know what I'm mad about?"

"So you _are_ mad about something!"

"… Damn it."

Ryou turned his body so that he was sitting cross-legged on Bakura's back and leaning down so he could talk in Bakura's ear. "We're already making progress, can we please just make more?"

"Ryou, I'm not going to tell you a _damn thing_, so just drop it already."

Ryou continued to just sit there, not saying anything for a bit. He knew that if he stayed quiet long enough that eventually Bakura would talk, it was just a matter of how long it would take. Meanwhile, Bakura was getting fed up with Ryou. He had said a _million times_ that he didn't want to talk about it, that nothing was wrong, and that he shouldn't worry, but he wouldn't leave him alone! And he knew why too, it was because he had actually cried in front of the smaller boy… I mean, he'd admit that he cried before, especially after the loss of his dad, but he always made sure that Ryou was nowhere near him. He needed to be the tough twin and take care of things around here now; their aunt and uncle were good for _nothing_ except money, and Ryou needed a strong figure to look up to, trust, and depend on when things turned bad.

Of course, now he was beginning to wonder that even if Ryou _hadn't_ seen him cry if he'd leave him alone. The other twin had been trying to get Bakura to open up and trust more people and talk about his feelings openly ever since they were kids, and this need to "help" Bakura had only increased when their parents died because Ryou knew that Bakura must feel _something_ about it, especially since he had been so close to their dad…

In reality, Bakura was right. Ryou wanted Bakura to be more open, and talking about what was troubling him was part of that process. He would not give in until Bakura started talking, no matter what!

So the twins stayed like that for a while, still and silent, until Bakura almost yelled, "All _right! __**Fine!**_ I'll fucking tell you whatever the hell it is you want to know, just get off of me and leave me alone afterwards!"

"Yes!" Ryou cheered as he jumped off of Bakura. The older twin sat up, soon being joined by Ryou sitting right next to him a little too close for most people's comfort, but not for Bakura's. At least, not when Ryou was involved.

Ryou looked up at his brother with eager, encouraging eyes and a happy smile, and Bakura let out an irritated sigh. He started to try and think of a possible way to explain himself… he wasn't exactly the best at describing his "feelings," his plans he _could_ explain though… But this wasn't really a "plan." Eventually Bakura took in a deep breath and started with, "It's just… You're always telling me to make new friends and stuff, right? Trust people more?"

Ryou nodded. "Yes."

"… Well, I've tried before, _believe_ _me_, I've tried, but everyone I trust either leaves or disappoints me." _You're the only one who hasn't so far_, he added to himself.

Ryou furrowed his brows. He didn't really understand Bakura's problem so far; he was feeling down because he was thinking about people leaving or disappointing him? But why did that suddenly come to mind while they were walking through town? He decided to just go with it for now and asked, "Well… you said you kind of trust Marik, right?"

Bakura scowled and crossed his arms. "Don't mention _him_ around me."

"Why?" Ryou asked, confused. He had thought that Bakura actually liked Marik… If not "that way," then at least as a friend.

Bakura sighed again and said, "Earlier today, I saw him hanging out with Otogi."

"… Okay, and your point is?" Ryou asked, really not getting the big deal.

Bakura whipped his head around to face Ryou with a disbelieving expression. "My point?-! My point is I thought he _hated_ that guy! He lied to me, hell, he probably _used_ me to get to that jackass!" Bakura stared at Ryou for a little longer before turning his head away, grinding his teeth so he wouldn't say anymore.

"…" Ryou stared at Bakura for a second, trying to process this information. "So, you're hurt?"

Bakura's eye twitched. "It sounds stupid when you say it like that."

"Then explain it better."

Bakura looked down at the ground. "Can you imagine what it's like having everyone you love and trust leaving, backstabbing, disappointing, or lying to you? Imagine people you _thought_ were your friends doing those things to you… That's pretty much every single one of my friendships Ryou," Bakura scowled. "I shouldn't have expected a friendship with Marik to be any different, but I did, and when I saw that he lied to me it just…" Bakura's eyes hardened, "really…"

"… Hurt you…" Ryou finished for him.

Bakura turned his head away from Ryou. "This is why I don't trust people Ryou, they're never reliable. They can turn on you in a snap. I thought Marik was different since he seemed kind of like me. I figured he had _morals_, more so than most people are age, but it turns out he's just like all the rest. It turned out that I was wrong, and you know how I _hate_ being wrong."

Ryou looked down at the ground. So, his brother was feeling hurt because he had actually started to trust Marik and thought about becoming his friends, so when he thought he lied to him… "Bakura," Ryou said, looking up, "you don't know the whole story."

"I saw them _coming out of a coffee shop_ and _laughing_ Ryou, how can that be interpreted in any other way than as a date?"

Ryou shrugged. "Maybe Marik _didn't_ like Otogi before, but now that he's changed Marik wants to be friends with him. He could also be feeling guilty about practically ruining his life…"

"And some life it was," Bakura said sarcastically. "I'd _hate_ to lose _that_ life," he finished with an eye roll.

Ryou sighed. "My _point_ is, Bakura, that you can't be mad at him yet. I think you should talk to him first and see what he says."

"How will I know he's telling the truth?"

Ryou smiled. "Bakura, you're the best lie-detector I know, just trust your instincts or your gut or whatever."

Bakura scowled, thinking about what his brother said. It _would_ be a good idea to talk to him he supposed, after all, if his brother was right and Marik only _recently_ liked Otogi, then he didn't want to seem like he was… "_hurt"_ over a stupid think like the Egyptian lying to him, did he? Of course not! "_Fine_," Bakura said eventually, "I'll talk to him. But if he lies, he's getting a one-way ticket to the hospital."

Ryou shook his head amusedly. "Of course Bakura, of course," he said before grinning mischievously and pronouncing in a sing-song voice, "Kura's got a friend~!"

Bakura turned and glared at him. "No I don't~," he sang back, annoyed.

Ryou stood up and twirled around while singing, "Yes he does~!" and giggling. He started skipping away when Bakura got up to chase him.

"No. I. _Don't!_" he almost yelled as he ran after his brother.

They ran all around the house, saying, "Yes he does~!" and "_No I don't!_" and giggling and growling as they ran for a good ten minutes straight. Eventually though, Ryou began to get tired so he turned around and trapped his running brother in a hug, although the impact caused them both to fall, since Bakura hadn't had time to stop himself from running full in to him.

Bakura groaned and looked down at Ryou, who was supported only by his elbows, his body curved upwards slightly. Bakura's hands were placed firmly on either side of his brother, his head barely lifted over his neck. "Ryou…" he said, his eye twitching, "_why_ did you do that…?"

Ryou smiled sheepishly, his elbows and backside hurting since that's what he landed on. "I was tired of running… and hugs make everything better!"

Bakura stared at his brother, un-amused, but then smiled and just laid his head on his brother's neck. "Well, I'm sleepy so I think I'll go to bed."

"What? Bakura, get off me!" Ryou said before pushing him.

Bakura dug his feet in the ground to stop himself from being pushed and smirked to himself. "Naaah, I'm comfortable."

"Bakura!" Ryou whined, pouting slightly. Though it was in vain, for Bakura couldn't see him pouting.

"This I what you get for accusing me of having friends."

Ryou sighed and laid down fully. "So, how long are you going to lay on me _this_ time?"

"Until I wake up."

"What? But you're not asleep!" Just then Bakura made a fake snoring sound, causing Ryou to roll his eyes and say, "Not funny 'Kura!"

* * *

"Another tie?-!" Otogi exclaimed unbelievingly, "You've gotta be kidding me!"

Marik laughed. "Don't doubt your opponent Otogi," he said with a smirk.

Otogi frowned and started packing up the card game they had been playing. "Okay, let's do something else now."

"I thought you said you'd keep playing until you beat me?" Marik responded proudly as he crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow, still smirking at him.

Otogi glared at him. "Yeah, well I said that three games ago! I'm done."

"Aw, come on, _one_ more game?"

"_No!_"

Marik started laughing again, and Otogi just pouted. He hadn't expected Marik to be so good at card games; they had tied at almost everything so far, except for the first time when Marik won because Otogi underestimated him. Yes, that was the _only_ reason he won… _The. Only. Reason. _

Otogi took a special pride in being good at games, so when people beat him he got a little, upset… that's why he held a grudge towards Yugi in 7th grade (and onwards) and told Jounouchi to torment him. He also had a grudge towards Atem, but Yugi was weaker and didn't like violence, so he was an easier target. However, even if he was competitive he knew when to cut his losses, which is why he wouldn't play Marik again.

But as Marik kept laughing and laughing, his anger snapped and he yelled, "Fine! One more game, but then I'm _done_."

Marik smirked. "I'll go easy on ya."

Otogi's eye twitched as he started setting up the game again. "Yeah yeah, act like a big-shot why don't you…"

"I never knew you were such a game geek Otogi," Marik commented, "I'm surprised you and Yugi aren't friends."

Otogi sighed. "My father owns a game shop and he's Yugi's Grandpa's rival."

"Oh," Marik said. He had almost forgotten that the Mutou twins lived in a game shop with their Grandpa, although he _never_ knew that _Otogi_ owned a game shop. "You own a game shop?"

"Well," Otogi hesitated. "_I_ don't own one, but my dad does, and he's really competitive so, I guess I learned that from him." Otogi smiled softly.

"… You really love your dad, don't you?" Marik asked curiously.

Otogi sighed and nodded. "Yeah, which is why I want to tell him the truth…"

Marik looked at him for a few seconds before smiling and telling him, "Well, then just tell him that; any father who's mad at his son for telling the truth shouldn't be a father." _Like how my father shouldn't be a father…_ he added in his head.

Otogi smiled. "Yeah, you're right…" he said as he passed out seven cards to Marik. "Let's just play "Go Fish.""

"Such a weak game…" Marik muttered under his breath.

Otogi glared at his opponent, but he proceeded with the game nonetheless. "Got any threes?"

"Go fish," Marik told him with a smile.

Otogi took a card and gave him a stern look. "No cheating."

Marik rolled his eyes. "I think the old you should've been the one to take _that_ advice."

Otogi's face burned with shame and he quickly buried his face behind the fanned out cards in his hand. Mark winced at the sight; did he _always_ have to bring up people's pasts and throw it back at them? He really needs to think before he speaks, and not let his temper get the best of him anymore…

Marik couldn't yell at himself anymore when he heard a timid voice say, "It's your turn…"

"Oh! Right, uh," he looked at his cards, and deciding to lose this one on purpose, he said, "Got any fives?"

A hand extended a card with a "5" on it and Marik took it sheepishly. The thing about Go Fish was that it was kind of hard to purposefully lose… "Got any twos?"

"Go fish," Otogi said, finally putting the cards down with a sigh to reveal his tired face. "You're right, this is a weak game."

Marik smirked and was about to mention how Otogi only didn't want to play when he saw he was losing, but he quickly held his tongue and said, "Yeah, let's do something else."

Otogi laughed and stood up,."Actually, I think it's time I go home," he said to Marik with a smile, "thanks for letting me hang out, and… helping me."

Marik stood up too and smiled. "No problem. Good luck with your dad."

Otogi nodded, his face paling as he did so… the sight struck a warning note inside Marik, but he shrugged it off as paranoia and said it was just the lack of light.

The two boys walked up the basement steps and to the front door where they parted ways, Otogi calling behind him as he ran to his house, "I'll see you Monday Marik-san!" Marik just waved with an amused smile before closing the door and thinking to himself, _And here I thought that he'd never change…_

"Marik?" his sister's voice called from behind him. He turned around to face her and smiled. "Hey Isis," he said, "what's up?"

Isis smiled softly. "Nothing, it's just that… you seem to be much more social lately."

Marik smiled softly. He knew his sister was worried about him since he didn't talk about his friends much and he usually never hang out with them outside of school, so going to Bakura's house and Otogi coming to his was probably a big relief to her. "Yeah, well… there's a lot more interesting people here," he said, immediately thinking of the yin-yang twins and Otogi.

Isis smiled brightly and hugged her brother tightly. "Oh Marik! You're finally making friends! I'm so proud!"

Marik pushed his sister off him gently. "Isis, I already had friends before today –"

"But you never hung out with them outside of school," Isis brought up, "now, you are!"

Marik shook his head amusedly. "Relax Isis, I wouldn't get too excited about this. It might not happen again if you're going to make such a big deal out of it."

"What? No! Okay, fine, I won't say anything more about it," she said before running her fingers over her lips in a "zipping" motion, winking at him, and walking away with a happy smile on her face.

* * *

"I can't believe we got the job!" Ryou exclaimed happily to Bakura on Monday morning while they were walking to school. He wasn't lying; when he got that call on Sunday morning yesterday, he jumped with joy and even woke Bakura up, though he knew the boy would be grumpy.

"Yes, I know Ryou, you've told me _eight times now_," came the tired boy's reply. He hated the mornings, and being next to an excited person when you just wanted to crawl back in bed for ten more hours wasn't very good for your nerves.

"Well excuse me for being excited!" Ryou said, ignoring his brother's tone. They started work after school today! And they _do_ get a discount on their phones! When they can afford to buy them anyways… and then there's so many different cell phones to choose, from, not to mention all the cell phone plans available, and –

Ryou had to steady himself after he almost tripped over the unlevel sidewalk, much to Bakura's amusement. "Watch where you're going Ryou, you might fall," he said with a slight chuckle.

Ryou pouted. "You'd catch me," he muttered under his breath before they continued walking. The new job wasn't the only thing on his mind, however, he was also thinking about another call he had received yesterday:

~!~!~!~

"_Hmm… Should be done in a few minutes…" Ryou said to himself as he was grilling some cheap steaks they had bought earlier in the day in a pan. Ryou didn't really like taking Bakura shopping with him because… well, he acted just like a little kid: "Can we get that?" "I want this!" and "It doesn't cost a lot," are just a few of the phrases Bakura uses to get a particular item that he wants, and Ryou usually ends up buying it too because he'd rather pay for the thing than risk it being stolen. This time Bakura wanted steaks, and he was _determined_ to get them too; he had been planning to smuggle them out with his new coat, so now they were having steaks for lunch, even if Ryou would rather have vegetable stir-fry with shrimp and a side of rice _**(1)**_._

_Their home phone ringing interrupted his thoughts, and he looked at the steak hesitantly before turning down the heat as low as it would go and walking into the living room to answer the phone. "Hello? You've reached the Bakura residence," he said in a practiced voice. _

"_Ryou-chan?" a familiar female voice rang on the other end. _

"_Hey Amora, what's up?" Ryou said with a smile, relieved that it was her and not some salesman or something equally annoying. _

"_Did you hear?-! Otogi cancelled all of the dates he had planned today!" _

"… _What?" Ryou asked, confused. _

"_I know right! It's crazy! But I swear it; the girls for today just called me and said their dates got cancelled!" _

_Ryou creased his eyebrows together, trying to think. "Amora, what's the big deal?" he asked, confused as to what the problem was. _

_He had to bring the phone about a foot away from his head when Amora _yelled_ at him: "_What's the big deal?-!_ Ryou, this was the biggest jerk in school who would take dates like goldfish ate food! Why in the world would he cancel?-!" _

"_Surely he's cancelled dates before…?" Ryou said softly, the phone a good distance away from his ear now just in case. _

"_Not that I recall… unless something _really_ important came up, but his excuse for today was that he just wanted to be alone!" _

_Ryou sighed. "Amora, I think you're overreacting –" _

"I think you're under reacting!_" Amora screamed back. "Think about it Ryou, Otogi's been acting depressed lately, right? We even thought he looked kind of suicidal? Don't most people who feel like that cancel all their plans so that they have the whole day to… you know, jump off a bridge or whatever?" _

_Ryou paused for a few seconds before his brain registered exactly what Amora was saying. Then his face paled, and his stomach tied up in knots as a wave went through his body, making him feel weak. _No…_ Ryou thought, _Otogi wouldn't do that, would he…? He seems like a strong person, he would never actually… kill himself, would he?_His knees started buckling and his mouth turned dry as he pictured Otogi about to jump off a bridge, or tying some rope in a loop, or simply taking a kitchen knife and –_

_He snapped out of his thoughts when he had to catch the phone he just dropped before it hit the floor, and when he almost fell down himself he walked over to the couch to sit down and took a deep breath. "Amora, do you really think that Otogi would… k, k…" he couldn't even say the word! "Jump off a bridge, or something like that…?" _If he does, it's all my fault… It was because of me he's received so much torment, oh dear gosh what have I done…? What if Otogi _does_ kill himself over this?-! It's all my fault… I don't want a dead man on my conscience!-!

"_I don't know," Amora interrupted his grief, sensing that she might have worried the poor 'girl' too much. "Maybe I'm just being paranoid… I wouldn't worry too much about it. I mean, it's not like there's anything we can do about it." _

"… _Right…" Ryou said, but he wasn't convinced at all. _

_Amora sighed, disappointed that she didn't think of the fact that Ryou would feel horrible after hearing her thoughts… of _course_ someone like Ryou wouldn't want to hear about someone possibly being suicidal! Stupid, stupid, stupid! "Listen Ryou, I _really_ wouldn't worry about it, I just over-exaggerate, okay? I'm sure everything will be fine." _

"_That's not what you said one minute ago…" Ryou said quietly. _

_The line was silent before Amora said, "Listen, don't worry about it, okay? Please? I mean… I'm pretty sure Otogi won't do that, I'm just saying in case he does, don't be surprised, er… You know what? Don't listen to me…" Amora sighed. She was never the best at comforting people… _

"Pretty sure." "In case." "Don't listen to me."_ Ryou repeated Amora's words to himself._Thoseare all words people use when they're trying to comfort you and not lie at the same time… Dear high goodness, Otogi might actually…!_ "Okay Amora," Ryou lied in a reassuring voice. "I won't worry about it. I have a lot of stuff to do today anyways." _

_Amora exhaled in relief. "Good. Okay, see you tomorrow!" were the last words before she hung up, happy that Ryou seemed okay now. Maybe she _wasn't_ the worst at comforting people! _

_Ryou put his home phone back on the stand, colors swirling in his vision. He put his hands up to his eyes as he felt hot tears come out of them. _No… this can't be happening…_His body was shaking and even more tears came out of his eyes as horrible, deadly thoughts entered his mind. _This won't happen… it won't, there's no way… it can't happen…_ He kept telling himself things like this for a few moments, until he remembered what Bakura said yesterday: Otogi and Marik had been hanging out. Which means that Marik would know how Otogi was feeling… sure, it was earlier in the day, but a mood can't change _that_ rapidly, can it? Yes, surely Marik would be the one to know what mental state the boy in question is in? And whether or not he's… sui… suicidal…? _

_Ryou wiped his eyes and ran up to his bedroom quietly; he didn't want Bakura to see him cry, because then he'd ask what's wrong… and once he knew, he'd probably say something like, "Good, I _hope_ that jerk kills himself." So that's why he tiptoed up to his room, carefully avoiding the creaky floorboards underneath the blue carpet, and walked over to his desk to take out the phone number that Marik had given him not too long ago. He took in a deep breath before walking back downstairs and picking up their phone, dialing each number carefully, hoping desperately that he wouldn't get Marik's voicemail… _

_Soon, someone picked up: "Hello there!" an old, scratchy, high-pitched voice said into the phone. "You've reached Grandma's Glorious Gifts, how may I help you today?" _

… What number did I dial?_ Ryou thought to himself. _I've never even heard of this place…_ "Um, I'm awfully sorry, I seem to have dialed the wrong number…" _and I thought I had entered it in correctly too…_ Ryou thought to himself as he looked back at the phone number in his hand. _

"_Ryou?" said a _much_ more familiar voice: Marik! Ryou breathed out a sigh of relief as Marik explained himself. "Oh! Sorry about that, I um… answer my phone weirdly to numbers I don't know, in case it's someone I don't… um… want to talk to, like a salesman or something…" he laughed nervously, thinking to himself, _Ohgod… Ryou probably thinks I'm a weirdo now…

_Although, he was unaware that right now Ryou was smiling and holding back laughter. He thought the idea was really clever! Not to mention extremely humorous. "No, no, I think it's a really good idea," he managed to say eventually. _

"… _Really?" Marik asked in a voice that _clearly_ did not believe him. _

"_No! Really! I like it, I think I might start doing that," he laughed into the phone, causing Marik to smile on the other end; he really did like the boy's laughter. "It would certainly make phone calls more interesting!" _

_Marik laughed with him. "Tell me about it, I've actually had to make up orders for some of these places sometimes… Ever heard of a triple-decker caramel coconut fudgie bar?" _

"_No," Ryou laughed out. "But it sounds delicious!" _

_Marik laughed into the phone some more, a smile etching its way onto his face that promised not to go away for a _long_ while. "So, why'd you call anyways?" _

_Marik was sorry he asked when Ryou's laughter quickly died out, leaving an uncomfortable silence. "Um," the boy said quietly after a pause, "It's just… Were you hanging out with Otogi yesterday?" _

_Marik took a little while to answer. "… Yeah, why?" he asked guardedly. _

_Ryou ignored his hesitance and continued with his investigation. "Did he seem… okay, to you?" _

"_Okay? Define "okay."" _

"_Like… not depressed?" _

_Marik took a little while before answering with a sigh. "Well, he was a little depressed, but he's fine now. Last I talked to him anyways." _

_Ryou felt a little relieved at hearing that. "Oh, well that's good," he exhaled, releasing some of his tension. _

"_Why do you ask?" _

"_Huh? Oh, um… Amora called and said she was worried he wasn't feeling too, uh, confident…" Ryou bit his lip when he was done talking. He wanted nothing more than to just hang up the phone right now, but that would be extremely rude, so he couldn't. _

"… _Oh, I see. Well, don't worry, he'll be fine Ryou." _

_With Marik's last words, all of Ryou's worry melted away. He sounded completely sure of himself when he said that it would be fine, which meant that there was nothing to worry about! "Thank you, Marik," Ryou said with a smile on his face. _

"_No problem. Anyways, what's up with you?" _

~!~!~!~

Ryou smiled, remembering the rest of the call with Marik. They had started talking about their weekend, and Ryou told Marik about their new job! Which he sounded very happy about (although just a little cynical that Bakura had gotten the job as well). Marik also told him about how Otogi is a changed person now, and that he invited him to eat with them today. Which Ryou didn't mind too terribly; after all, everyone deserves a second chance. After that they just started talking about… practically anything at all, and Ryou had a blast talking with him. He had even started twirling his hair around his finger, which was usually a reaction reserved for when he talked with his girlfriend… Although, Ryou had kind of forgotten about the steak he had been cooking during the call and almost ruined it... luckily he had turned the heat down beforehand or else they _would_ have been ruined.

But that's all in the past now; currently they were still walking to Marik's house, which was quickly coming up on the horizon.

"So Ryou, what are you going to do today?" Bakura asked curiously. "If I remember correctly, the girls' plan involves something else?"

Ryou rubbed the back of his head. "You're right," he answered. Today was _supposed_ to be the day where he donned his "by clothes," confronted Otogi, and "pretended" to be a boy so that he'd leave him alone for good, but were they going to continue that plan now? He had the clothes in his backpack just in case, but at this point in time he doubted they'd do anything more. Especially if he really is a changed man like Marik said.

"Hmm… My plan involves another step too…" Bakura smirked, "And I do hope we'll be continuing it, but if Marik actually likes that jerk now I'll have to do it myself."

"You're talking to him about that today," Ryou reminded him.

Bakura just rolled his eyes. "Yeah yeah, whatever."

Ryou smiled; he had never mentioned his talk with Marik yesterday to Bakura because he wanted Bakura to solve his _own_ social problems. He needed to figure out how to confront people in ways other than yelling at them immediately, and this would be a good first step.

Eventually, they made it to Marik's house, and he was waiting outside like always. The boy smiled, and he _would_ have talked with his "Grandma's Glorious Gifts" voice to make Ryou laugh again if Bakura wasn't there, but he really didn't feel like giving the cynical boy another reason to make fun of him so he just said, "Hey Ryou! Have a good day yesterday?"

Ryou smiled. "Yup! And Bakura just lazed around all day –"

"I was catching up on my sleep! Which is very important for a teenager I hear," Bakura excused himself with slight annoyance.

"Yes yes, I'm sure," Ryou said with a slight shake of his head.

"And _you_ got a job?" Marik asked with disbelief. "You'll probably sleep through your shift. Or better yet, _steal_ during it."

"No! He's not going to –"

"Wait, how'd you know I got a job?" Bakura interrupted Ryou with a confused expression on his face.

Marik raised an eyebrow. "Ryou told me yesterday."

"Oh he _did_, did he?" Bakura said with concealed anger as he glared at Ryou, who refused to meet his gaze. "And, pray tell, what did he say?"

Now Marik was a little wary, as he didn't want to get Ryou in trouble for whatever Bakura was on the fence about. However, he also knew that it wouldn't be a good idea to lie, so he said, "He was worried about Ryuji, so I told him he seemed fine and then we just, talked."

Bakura stared at Marik for a little while before stating, "Ryuji."

It was silent between the three after that one word. "Um," Marik said into the silence. "Yeah, Ryuji… you know, Otogi?"

Bakura's head tilted down, his bangs covering his eyes, and his shoulders started shaking. Ryou was about to ask what was wrong when he heard the distinct sound of chuckling come from his mouth. "Ryuji?" he questioned, with more amusement in his mouth. "You're on first-name basis now? Oh that's rich…"

Marik was beginning to feel annoyed by the way Bakura said that last sentence; almost like he thought he was someone who didn't deserve respect. "What the hell are you talking about now?"

"Oh, me?" he responded with a superior tone. "I'm simply noticing the fact that –" Bakura stopped talking when Ryou poked him in the ribs with his elbow and shot him a look that said, "_Be polite_." Bakura rolled his eyes and took a deep breath before saying in a much calmer voice, "I _mean_, I find it a little bit... _odd_, that you'd call someone you _hate_ by their first name."

Marik bit his bottom lip and raised an eyebrow at Bakura. Was he mad at him _again?_ What was it for _this_ time? It couldn't possibly be about Otogi, could it? Although, this is Bakura he's dealing with; it probably is. "Yeah, well… I _did_ hate him – more than anyone I've ever met I think," he added under his breath, "– but then we caught up on Saturday and started talking, and I realized he's not _that_ bad –"

"Not that bad?-!" Bakura asked incredulously. "Excuse me, but _how_ in the world is… He's everything you despise, isn't he?" Ryou poked him lightly again, trying to tell him to _calm down_ before this gets out of hand.

"Well, he _was_, but he said he wants to change –"

"And you _bought_ that crap?-! And here _I_ thought –" Bakura's eye twitched as Ryou poked him in the ribs again. He knew that this would turn into a fight soon if the conversation continued the way it was going, and he did _not_ want that.

"No, it's okay Ryou," Marik said, narrowing his eyes at the older twin. "Let him finish what he was going to say. You thought _what,_ Bakura? Thought you _knew_ me?"

Bakura clenched his teeth as he felt more anger bubble up inside him; Marik was clearly using his own words and feelings to get to him, and as much as he'd like to deny it: it was working. "_No_," he practically spat, "I was _going_ to say that I thought you were _smarter_ than that, but obviously I was wrong." He turned and walked past them both. "If you want to be friends with a complete and utter lying _jerk_, then that's your problem."

"Funny you should say that," Marik commented without turning around, "seeing as you're a jerk yourself."

Bakura stopped walking and turned around, about to yell at the Egyptian boy before deciding that it wasn't worth it; he was _right_ after all, he _was_ a jerk, but at least Marik knew he wasn't going to change. For some reason though, he thought _Otogi_ would; why would he?-! He turned back around to walk to school by himself. He knew Ryou would be left with Marik alone, but frankly right now he didn't care; he knew Marik wouldn't try anything anyways. _That_ he knew for _certain_.

Ryou just stared after his brother, his expression sad. He sighed before smiling weakly at Marik. "Well, should we walk to school now?"

Marik was still annoyed at Bakura's behavior; did he think he could _control_ him or something?-! How dare he care who he was friends with or not! "Yeah," he answered before taking a deep breath and smiling at Ryou.

* * *

Amora arrived to school bright and early, just like always. She had always made it a habit to show up before everyone else so that she could have a moment of peace and quiet before she acted like her zany, outgoing self. That, and she usually had some homework to finish up…

She was just starting her math homework when the _other_ early bird in the school showed up: Anai. "Hey girl!" Amora called. "Come sit by me!"

Anai smiled at Amora; she really wasgrateful to the girl for sticking by her all these years… Especially considering how different they were and how difficult she could be sometimes. "Yeah, I'm coming Amora-chan."

They sat next to each other, and Anai helped the other with her math, since she _really_ was not good at that. ("I'm good with _love_ calculations, not _number_ calculations!" she always exclaimed.) Soon, they were joined by another person, one that neither of the two girls liked. At all.

"What are you doing here so early, Otogi?" Amora asked curtly, looking up and glaring at the boy. Anai just stared at her shoes, not wanting to look at him… Although, they both found it weird that he was wearing both a hat and a long-sleeved hoodie and also wore his hair in a way that concealed half of his face; was he turning emo now?

Otogi noticed both of the girls' reactions and sighed, knowing that he deserved them. "I wanted to say that, I'm sorry… To both of you."

The hallway was silent, until: "_What?-!_ I'm sorry, could you repeat that?-?"

Otogi couldn't help the smile that crossed his face; of course Amora wouldn't believe he wanted to apologize. "I want to say I'm sorry, for… what I did, when we first met…"

Amora narrowed her eyes at him while Anai just looked up at him with wide eyes. "_You_ want to apologize? To _us?_" It was obvious she didn't believe him at all. But that was perfectly understandable, considering what he did to them…

~!~!~!~

_**~The story of Amora and Anai's friendship~ **_

_Anai looked up at her new school with bright eyes; she was a seventh grader, and extremely excited about making new friends in this new environment; it was all just so _new!_ She quickly walked in through the doorway, her young eyes looking at all the bright paint colors and people and making her smile. _This new school is going to be great!_ she thought to herself as she found her locker and started putting her books and things inside it. _

"_Hi!" a voice coming up next to her said. A girl with short, wavy, brown hair started putting her school items in the locker next to hers, smiling brightly at her. "My name's Hanamia Amora, what's yours?" _

"_Um, I'm Sagaki Anai," she said, smiling back. _

_Amora smiled. "Well, looks like we're locker-buddies, Sagaki-chan! What class do you have?" _

"_7-A," Anai said, closing her locker and peeking into Amora's for a sec. The locker was already messy, and it was the first day… She must not be very good at organizing. "Um, do you want me to help you with your locker?" she asked. _

"_No! I've totally got this!" she denied, stuffing more books and folders into the already messy locker. "Hey!" she said suddenly, looking at Anai, "We've got the same class!" She smiled at her. "See ya there, I'm gonna stay here for a little bit," she said as she pointed at her locker. _

_Anai laughed and left, waving behind her back. "Okay, see ya later." _

_She left to go to classroom 7-A and saw a few other people already inside. She walked over to them eagerly, wanting to make new friends. She and these new kids talked for awhile, with much laughter and small-talk going around. Soon, Amora came in, and immediately put her arm around Anai's shoulders. "Hey locker buddy!" she said before looking at the group. "What are we all talking about?" she asked. _

_Anai smiled at her, ignoring the slightly 'weird' feeling she got from Amora putting her arm around her and said, "Hey Hanamia-chan, we were just talking about our summer." She looked back at the group who nodded and started talking again. So far, her new school year was going off without a hitch! _

_That is, until lunchtime. _

_At this unfortunate time on this particular day, Anai went down to lunch with her locker buddy, chatting up a storm and causing Amora to laugh so hard that she swore her ribcage would break. Anai laughed at her antics and comments, and that was when she met _him_: Otogi Ryuji. He walked up to them both and, at first, acted really nice by saying, "Hello ladies, you two are new here, aren't you?" _

_They both nodded, and then they looked at each other, saying, "You're new here too?" They both blinked at each other and laughed at how they didn't even know that. _

_Otogi laughed too, but then he put his arm around Anai, which she _really_ didn't like. You see, she had kind of, _developed early_, which made her a target for a lot of boys, and she _hated_ it. She'd much rather have a slender figure like Amora, but she was cursed with curves. _

"_Want me to show you around?" Otogi asked smoothly. _

_Anai bit her lip and said, "I'm sorry, but, uh –" _

"_I already agreed to take her," Amora interrupted, smiling at him. _

_Otogi looked at Amora, surprised, and then raised an eyebrow. "But you said you're new here, too." _

"_I know, but I already know the school pretty well," Amora said with a sickly-sweet smile. _

_Otogi looked at her, unconvinced, but he just rolled his eyes and said, "Oh, okay. Well, I'll see you two around then," before walking away, much to the relief of Anai. _

"_Thanks Hanamia-chan," she said gratefully. _

_Amora smiled brightly at her. "No problem! I hate male jerks like that anyways. So, when do you wanna do this tour?" _

_Anai shrugged, and then Amora grabbed her hand and dragged her off. "How about now!" _

"_But, but I didn't eat!" Anai exclaimed. _

_~!~!~!~_

_For a while, everything was great; Anai had a lot of friends, she was doing well in school, the teachers liked her, it was all wonderful! The only thing that she could complain about was when Otogi started flirting with her, but even then nothing _too_ terrible happened. However, one time he asked her out, and even though she politely declined, Otogi seemed to become very… violent. "Why do you keep turning me down?" he almost yelled. "Do you not like boys or something?" _

_Anai shrugged. "Boys are okay," she said before walking away. The truth was, she hadn't really thought about boys, or dating, or boyfriends, or any of that stuff yet; she had so much else to worry about already. So, of course she wouldn't have an opinion on the subject. I mean, she liked them as friends, sure, but anything more she wasn't too sure about. Actually, if she really thought about it, she much preferred girls over boys, but her mom said that was normal for her age. _

_Of course, when Otogi heard that, he thought that Anai was just in the closet, and now felt humiliated. _How dare these gay people make a fool out of me…!_ he thought to himself angrily. He wanted revenge for the humiliation he felt, and also just wanted to make her life miserable since she was _that way_. _

_And so, what he did next will affect her for the rest of her school year. _

_He told a rumor. _

_A very _juicy_ rumor: _

"Hey, did you hear? The new girls are lesbo!"

"What? No! Which ones?"

"Sagaki and –"

"What!-! No, not that sweet girl!"

"You know it is always the quiet ones."

"Oh please, how do you know?"

"I saw her and Hanamia kissing."

"Get out!-!"

"No! It's true, I swear."

"Oh my gosh, I don't believe it!"

_This was how the rumor spread; most did not believe it, but even if they didn't believe it they still retold it, and the people who _did_ believe it added details to the already untrue rumor, blowing it way out of proportion. _

_And the next day, when Anai got to school, she said "Hi" to some of her friends, but they all stuck their nose up at her, turned, and walked away. She was confused, to say the least; just yesterday they had been talking about getting everyone together for a sleepover, and now they it seemed like they didn't want to talk to her… Maybe it was something else, she assumed as she started putting things into her locker. _

"_Hey Sagaki-chan!" a few boys called over to her with grins. She creased her eyebrow at them, but waved nonetheless to be friendly. _

_Soon she was finished at her locker and walked into her classroom, seeing the group of girls that were usually there at this time. She smiled and walked over to them. "Hi!" she said brightly. _

_She almost took a step back when the girls all turned and _glared_ at her. "Oh, hey, Sakagi-_kun_," one said. Anai was a little scared at the hostility they all looked at her with, and what was with the use of the honorific "kun"? She was going to ask them, but then they all turned away from her. _

_She bit her lip and asked, "Did I do something wrong…?" _

_One of them turned back to her and said, "Yes; you're yourself." Anai felt a pit in her stomach and tears threaten her eyes; why were they being so mean? "Why don't you just go hang out with _Amora?_" the girl sneered before turning back. _

_Anai just stood there, feeling like she was an empty shell. Her mind was completely blank, but her eyes were full to the brim with tears. She turned away as they started falling; trying to block the flow by closing her eyes. She ran out of the room, to the inner courtyard, next to the cafeteria, and leaned against a beautiful cherry blossom tree. She looked up at the pink tree with tears streaming down her face. "What did I do?" she said out loud to it. Everything had been going great, she had thought she had made some great friends, so what was going on now? Had she said something yesterday? Did they really just not like her? But why did they act like they liked her yesterday? _

_After a while, the poor, confused girl just covered her tear-stained eyes and wondered, _What did I do? All I wanted were some friends.

_~!~!~!~_

_For the next week, she had absolutely no idea what was going on. All she knew was that it seemed as if the girls wanted absolutely nothing to do with her, and most boys wanted _everything_ to do with her. These behaviors just put her in tears, because she wasn't getting the attention – _any_ attention – that she wanted from the girls, and she was getting attention from the boys that she _didn't_ want. _

_Why was this? _

_She hated it; all the girls' glares, all the boys' looks, all the cold shoulders, all the pats on… places of her body. She hated it; she hated it all, and she just wanted it to stop, but whenever she asked it just seemed as if they kept going, and going, and going… _

_She was forced to spend her homeroom in the bathroom, and her lunch outside next to that cherry blossom tree, even though she still had no idea what was going on; no idea why the girls and boys were behaving this way to her. She felt so alone now, yet she used to feel so happy with all the new friends she thought she had made. What happened? _

_She hadn't figured out what had happened until the following week, when she heard Amora arguing with someone over the fact that she did _not_ kiss Sagaki-_chan_, and that she wasn't gay. She said she wasn't sure _where_ everyone got this idea from, and proclaimed, quite loudly, "These lips are still a virgin!" _

_When Anai heard this, tears instantly sprang to her eyes and she raised a hand to her mouth. Her still-unkissed mouth. Who would start such a rumor? Why? What could they possibly have to gain from it? She had to run away from the scene; her heart just felt so heavy with sorrow and confusion and guilt that she had dragged Amora down into this too. Had she been going through the same thing? She would completely understand if Amora hated her now… _

_This was how Anai's days passed; getting emotionally abused by the girls and physically abused by the boys; feeling like crying almost all the time; not having any friends in the school… But then one day, she was visited by someone she hadn't seen in weeks. _

_Underneath her cherry blossom tree, during lunch, on a beautiful sunny day, Amora visited her. "Hey," she said simply, smiling. "Can I sit here?" _

_Anai looked up at her, confused beyond belief. Why would Amora want to sit next to her? That would just enforce the rumor, wouldn't it? Anai opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. After not speaking for so long at school, she feared she may have forgotten how… _

_Unfortunately, Amora just sat next to her anyways and started eating her bento. Anai stared at her, unable to eat her own vegetable stir-fry. Why was she here? _

_Amora turned to her and smiled brightly. "I haven't seen you in so long, what with all the craziness that's been happening around here. How have you been doing?" _

"… _I, I… Aren't you afraid of sitting n-next to me…?" she managed to stutter out. _

_Amora tilted her head to the side and asked, "Should I?" _

_Anai's eyes widened. "Well, with that r-rumor going around, I thought –" _

"_Thought what? I hated you?" _

_Anai didn't say anything. _

_Amora sighed and put her hands behind her head, staring off into space. "Why should I care what those people think about me? Honestly, all this situation's showing me is who the good people in this school are." She smiled at Anai. "Sure as hell saved me the trouble of doing background checks!" She laughed, punching Anai playfully in the shoulder. The shy girl, however, cringed at the touch and scooted away. Amora sighed. "Look, I don't care what people say about us. Nothing's gonna keep me from my friends." _

"… _But, we were never really…" Anai didn't finish her sentence. _

_Amora looked at her sadly. "Don't you want to be?" _

"… _I guess so…" Anai said. _Yes_, she thought, _I want a friend more than anything… a true friend that I can talk to about everything…

_Amora smiled and held out her hand. Anai grabbed it warily, and immediately had her whole body shaken with Amora's violent handshake. "Good! We're friends then!" _

_Anai looked at Amora curiously, wondering how she can just _not_ care what people think. She wished she could be as strong as Amora, she wished she could be as open and loud and friendly as her… _

"_There is _one_ thing I would like to know though," Amora said as she stared at Anai seriously. "_Are_ you gay?" _

_Anai stared at her for a moment before looking away. "I don't kn-know," she said, finding it very hard not to stutter now… "I just think… I should wait to think about th-that st-stuff…" _

_Amora nodded before asking, "Do you think boys are attractive?" _

_Anai thought about it for a second, before realizing… "No… Not really." _

_Amora smiled a little and nodded. "Okay. Well, when you figure it out for sure, can you please tell me?" _

_Anai looked at her curiously. "Why do you w-want to know?" _

_Amora smiled mischievously, scaring Anai a little. "I'm a bit of a love whiz," she said, looking pretty smug. "At my old school, I helped almost every couple there get together! So," she smiled kindly at Anai, "I wanna help you too. But only when you want to, I guess, or like someone. It's not like I'm going to __**force**__ you to feel love, that'd be crazy!" _

_Anai stared at Amora before smiling slightly. "Hanamia-san, y-you're amazing…" _

_Amora laughed. "Strong words you use there, let's see if I can live up to them!" _

_They talked for the rest of that lunch period, and others after that. While the others may have ignored, laughed, mocked, or teased them, they stuck together, supporting each other. As far as they were concerned, they had no one but each other. _

_Until, of course, they talked to this one girl named Mazaki Anzu. She said she didn't care about the rumors. In fact, she hadn't even heard them until earlier in the morning that they met her! She brought them to the Friendship Gang, and introduced everyone. "Yeah," Yugi agreed with Anzu when he heard of the situation. "We really need to figure out a way to keep track of all the gossip in this school – it moves so fast!" _

"_I could find everything out for you!" Amora offered happily. _

_Atem smiled. "All right, you've got the job. The fate of our school gossip information depends on you!" _

_Anai and Amora _loved_ it over at the friendship gang. Everyone was friendly and nonjudgmental; just their type! Anai especially loved it, because she now felt like she had friends. _Real_ friends; she hadn't even known what that felt like until she met them! She felt loved and extremely happy now, even if she was still a little shy around them. _

_She couldn't have been happier. _

* * *

"Yeah, I didn't even find out it was you who started that rumor until later on in the year," Amora said, remembering the moment very well.

Otogi sighed. "I know, and I'm sorry…" he looked at Anai sadly, who looked back up at him. "I'm especially sorry to you, I… I can't even explain how much." He looked down, ashamed of the way he used to act.

Which is why he was very surprised when he felt Anai hugging him. "It's okay," she said quietly. "Because of that, I was able to meet some really great people… so it's okay."

Otogi smiled and hugged Anai back. And even though he had gone through a whole, character-development stage, he still couldn't help but think about how hugging a gay girl was no different than hugging a straight girl…

Amora stared at them and sighed before standing up and hugging them both. "Okay, if Anai forgives you than so do I… but not for everything." Otogi and Anai laughed; just like Amora.

Soon, the three of them were talking in the hallway like good, old friends, and all was forgiven…

* * *

"Ryou!" Was what the 'girl' heard as soon as she entered the school building, 'her' sight soon being blocked by a very pale-looking Amora.

"Woah!" Ryou said, taking a step back as he looked her over. "Amora, you look like you've seen a ghost; what happened?"

"It's Otogi, it's… it's… UGH!" Amora said, frustrated that she couldn't phrase what she wanted to say. She grabbed Ryou's hand forcefully. "Just come with me! Marik, you come too!" she ordered before running off with the 'girl' in tow. Marik followed with a sigh, wishing that just _once_ he could come to school without _something_ going on.

Ryou, meanwhile, was being pulled by Amora and feeling like he would be lifted up off his feet and simply be _dragged_ by the tomboy at any second. Soon this experience was over as they arrived at classroom 9-A, which was very crowded; Amora had to push many people over to get them through the mass that had gathered. "Out of the way! Coming through! If you don't want to lose it – _move it_." She kept saying things like that to push through the annoyed crowd that seemed to be gathered around one desk. Eventually they got to the front, and now Ryou could see Otogi, with a black eye and many bruises across his arms! What the hell happened?-! "Could everyone _please_ go away?" he heard the boy practically begging. "I _really_ don't need a lot of attention right now…"

Much to his dissatisfaction, the crowd only kept asking more questions, causing Ryou to feel an overwhelming amount of pity for him – he understood wanting to be alone while looking like that…

"What's going on?" Marik whispered in Ryou's ear before his eyes wandered over to Otogi and immediately widened. His frame immediately started shaking with anger; he knew who was most likely responsible for his current state, and the thought had him seeing red.

But while Marik was trying to control his rapidly increasing anger, Ryou stepped next to Otogi and asked very politely, "Could everyone please leave him alone? He needs some space."

"Yeah!" Amora said loudly as she stood next to Ryou. "I'm sure you'll all find out what happened soon anyways – gossip travels fast here."

The crowd grumbled, but a few people started leaving – others stayed, glaring at the two; why should _they_ get to stay? Although they soon left as Ryou stared at them with sad eyes and asked very sincerely, "_Please?_" They'd have to be heartless if they didn't follow that simple wish from such a sad-looking 'girl.'

Once the crowd left, Marik finally walked up to Otogi, and before he could say anything, the dice boy held up his hands in a defensive pose and said, "I know this looks bad, but it's really not." He took a deep breath and smiled happily at Marik, showing off gums that looked like they had been bleeding, which of course only spiked Marik's anger. How dare his own _father_ do this to him...! Not that he should be surprised; it seemed like almost every father he's known was worthless and hurtful.

Ryou, on the other hand, was still in the dark about _who_ caused this, but he just felt so bad for the boy that he found it hard to speak. In fact, Amora was the only one able to say anything at this point: "Not that bad?-! You look like crap!" she yelled.

"Yes, I know, but…" he took a deep breath before looking up at Marik. "Everything's fine now, I swear…"

Marik stared into Ryuji's eyes, and knew that he wanted to talk with him alone. The Egyptian sighed before looking at Ryou and saying, "Can you leave us alone for a minute?"

Ryou looked up at Marik and nodded slowly, grabbing Amora's hand and starting to leave, not without protests from Amora of course: "Hey! Why do we have to go?-! I want to hear this!-!"

Soon the 'girl' got her out of the door, and Marik pulled up a chair and sat across from Otogi, leaning on his desk. "Your father did this to you," he stated more than asked.

Otogi looked down as he answered, "Yes… When I told him everything, he got real quiet, and at first I thought he was going to just accept it, but then he punched me…" Otogi took a deep breath before continuing, "He said I wasn't his son anymore, which I expected, so it hurt a lot less than I thought it would… and he punched me a few more times. Picked me up and threw me against the wall once," he chuckled lightly as he looked up at Marik, but quickly looked down as he saw the fierce and raw _anger_ on his face. "I left as soon as I could, and I was going to walk to your house… but I didn't want you to see me like this, so I went over to Domino Park instead. Me and dad used to go there all the time when I was younger…" He looked back up and smiled at Marik, even though said boy looked like he was ready to kill someone, probably Otogi's father… "I think that, somehow… my dad knew I'd be there, 'cause he came a few hours later to look for me, and when he saw me he had tears in his eyes. He apologized for everything; the way he just acted, hurting me, making me feel like I had to be a ladies' man to get him to be proud of me… by the end of it, we were both in tears," Otogi let out a little laugh, but Marik was jut confused; his father apologized… just like that?

"He also said that he'd be proud of me no matter what I did," Otogi continued with a jovial smile. "As long as I was honest with him from now on… even if he might be a little angry at first." Otogi stared directly at Marik as he said this next part, "He also told me why he hated gays… he said that he knew people like that when he was younger, and apparently they hit on him or something, he wouldn't really go into it, but I think he just didn't like the attention they gave him so he hated them for it and never let it go." Otogi laughed a little more loudly before saying, "He also made me promise to _never_ act like those guys in his high school, but how am I supposed to know what they did?" Otogi shook his head amusedly. "I promised anyways, but still… Oh dad."

Otogi stared at Marik, who was currently staring at the desk with a blank look in his eyes. Otogi sounded… really happy, with the way things turned out with his dad, and why wouldn't he be? His dad actually apologized, his dad actually saw the error of his ways… his dad wasn't a pathetic, no-good, worthless, pain-bringing, horrible excuse for a father, his dad was actually good and accepting… So, he should be happy for him, right? So why couldn't he bring himself to _feel_ happy? So who cares if the situation with his own father wasn't that good… that shouldn't matter, should it?

Marik looked up at Otogi finally and said, "I'm happy for you… And thanks for telling me all this." _I wouldn't be able to tell _anyone_ about my dad…_ Marik inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly before asking, "Well… what are you going to tell everyone out there? If you say your dad did this to you he'll get in a lot of trouble no matter what you say."

Otogi smiled sheepishly. "Well, I was kind of hoping…" he looked around before gesturing for Marik to lean in, which he did. Otogi whispered his plan in the boy's ear, who's eyes slowly widened as a smirk appeared on his face. When the plan was told, Marik leaned back and crossed his arms, giving the boy opposite him a very mischievous smirk. "I'll see what I can do, but I warn you: he's pretty mad at me right now."

* * *

"Stop! People are trying to have a conversation in here!-!" Ryou desperately tried to keep people out of room 9-A as he blocked the entrance with his body. He wasn't sure how much longer he'd be able to hold them off – they were getting very impatient.

"I'm trying to get to class!" one person complained; others joined in with some grumbling.

"I know, and I'm sorry, but I'm sure they'll be done s-OON!" Ryou screeched the last half of the word as the door suddenly opened, causing him to fall backwards into the room. He would have fallen flat on his behind if Marik hadn't caught him. Unfortunately, when Marik wrapped his arms around him to make sure he wouldn't fall, Ryou's face blushed crimson and he quickly stood back up again and backed away from the door, laughing nervously towards his "savior." "Marik, what's up?" he asked, trying to sound casual and failing.

Marik smiled, slightly happy at the color of Ryou's face but having to ignore it, and said, "Can you find Bakura and bring him here, pronto?"

Ryou blinked at him and scrunched his eyebrows together in confusion. "What? Why?"

Marik smiled and, fully aware of the crowd around the door, said in a completely innocent voice, "Why, I _need_ him. We have certain… _business_ to take care of."

Ryou raised an eyebrow, not knowing why he was talking like that, but he shrugged it off and went to go find Bakura. Marik, on the other hand, looked at the crowd and gave them all a big wink before going back behind the door. Soon the gossip started – as he knew would happen, but he needed them to stay out of the room for just a little longer…

"You're willing to start rumors to help me?"Otogi asked with a smile.

Marik smiled. "You'll find I'd do a lot to help my friends, Ryuji-san." Luckily for him, he heard someone knock at the door, and he quickly slid it open to reveal a wary-looking Bakura and a confused Ryou. Marik just smirked. "_Perfect_," he said before grabbing Bakura by the arm and pulling him into the room.

"_Hey!_" he protested, "Let go of my bloody arm! _Ishtar!_" He continued struggling, and after Marik closed the door his arm was finally released and he glared at the guy who just manhandled him. "What. The. _Hell?-!_ Why did you –" Bakura was too _shocked_ to speak as he felt Marik's hand go over his mouth and saw his other hand move to his face to shush him. Bakura pushed him away and took a step back, anger evident on his face. "How _dare_ you…!"

"Listen," Marik interrupted, "I know you're mad at me, and I know it's because of him for some reason," he said as he pointed to Otogi, "but I'm suggesting we put that all behind us as I explain a few things to you."

Bakura switched from glaring at Marik to glaring at Otogi as he thought things over. It sounded like Marik was offering an explanation… _finally,_ maybe he'll finally know what's going through that thick head of his! But what if his explanation just made him angrier? Although, it might also give him a way _out_ of his anger…

Well, what's the risk in hearing a few words? He'd rather hear the truth than anything else, and it'd make Ryou happy for sure if this "little talk" helped to ease his anger; Ryou would think he was actually progressing. Bakura, with all these thoughts running through his head, looked back at Marik and said, "Fine. What is it?"

Marik smiled before launching into his tale about how Otogi's father was a bad man who "brainwashed" him into thinking gay people were evil and to be a ladies' man, and how the "brave" boy finally managed to tell his dad all about his hidden feelings and how he was punished for it… then he told of a heartwarming scene between father and son and a mutual understanding. He then told about the boy who wanted to change his ways, and who wished desperately for a new start but knew he wasn't going to get one. (If you hadn't caught on yet, he went through everything he knew about Otogi and dramatized it tenfold.) Otogi joined in a few times to explain minimal things better, but other than that Bakura barely paid him any mind.

By the end, Bakura just stared at Marik. He had never taken into consideration that there would be an outside source causing Otogi to act the way he does… if this was the case, then he could understand why Marik was giving him a second chance, and he supposed he could "understand" where Otogi was coming from, and why he was the way he was. He turned to the previous homophobe, who was sitting with a nervous expression on his face. Bakura smirked slightly as he remembered that this guy was afraid of him, or at least he was the last time he checked. He quickly scowled at the boy and told him, "That story still doesn't give you the right to act the way you did." Otogi looked down, ashamed. He was going to say something when Bakura interrupted, "However, it does give you an excuse. And if Marik's giving you a second chance, then so can I. And if you truly do want to "change," then I can respect that. So," he turned to Marik, "despite boring me to death with that tale and trying to tap into my compassion – which I'm sad to say failed –, what else do you need of me?"

Marik smirked. "Simple – we need you to take credit."

* * *

"Like my handiwork?" Bakura asked. Currently he was in the cafeteria with his feet up on his usual table and few people around him. He was admiring his fingernails with a smirk on his face as he talked about what "he" did to Otogi yesterday. "I could have gone a _lot_ farther, but after he promised to "be a better man" and all that, I decided to be merciful." Bakura pointed at Otogi as he said this, who happened to be eating with them for today and evermore.

"Wait, so _you_ made him look like that?" one kid asked.

"Of course!" Bakura proclaimed quite proudly. "Who else would?"

"But… if you hate him, why are you eating with him?" another asked.

"_Well_, I figured there isn't any real harm. He _is_ trying to change after all."

As Bakura answered every single question thrown at him with logic and no hesitation, Ryou just watched, trying very hard not to smile. Marik had also told him everything about Otogi (only toning it down as to not worry him too much, but Ryou didn't know that), and he also knew that Bakura _hadn't_ hurt someone (_again_) and was just faking it. He enjoyed seeing his brother so happy, but he was just a little worried that he'd get in trouble for something he didn't do… although, considering the way Pegasus was, Ryou wondered if _anyone_ got in trouble at this school.

His gaze traveled over to Otogi, who was sitting in between Marik and Yugi. He was smiling slightly, staring at Bakura tell everyone that "he" was the one who hurt him, instead of his dad. After all, it's not like getting beat up by Bakura would hurt his reputation any more than it's already been hurt, and it might actually make the crazy boy be able to tolerate him.

Marik on the other hand, Ryou noticed with amusement, was smiling smugly at the crowd around their table. He supposed he felt proud that he was able to convince Bakura to do this for him, although not that it was terribly hard – Bakura _loved_ to trick people.

"Hey Bakura!" an obnoxious, loud voice interrupted his story-telling and Ryou's musing. They both looked over at the sound, and saw that it was Otogi's ex-right-hand-man. Ryou glanced quickly at the previous bully to see him scowling at the boy walking up to them. _He_ was the one in control of the gang now, and Otogi didn't really want to deal with this jerk-bag.

Eventually, the new leader came up to the older Ying-Yang twin and gave a big smile. "Hey, me and the guys couldn't help but notice the way you decorated our _old_ leader's face," he gave a mocking look towards Otogi who just glared at him, silently seething. "And, we respect people who do things like that," he placed his hands on the table and looked Bakura directly in the eyes. "Wanna join our group? We've heard lots of stories 'bout you Bakura."

Ryou sighed, knowing that one of three scenarios would play out. The first one is that Bakura would accept the invitation and become the "bad boy" again, and the other is that he'd freak the poor guy out and cause him nightmares for a week or something equally as scarring. The third, and most preferred one, is that he'd simply make something up, insult him, and turn him down.

Luckily for him, it appeared to be the third one: Bakura acted all happy and said, "Ooh! Can I be the leader?"

The guy was shocked to say the least; it was obvious that he did _not_ want to give up his leader position. "Um…" was all he said before Bakura interrupted with another happy proclamation.

"Because you know I'd _love_ to be the leader of a gang!"

"… I'm not so sure that would –"

"You know, it's weird. I thought for _sure_ you'd be bothered by the rumors about me," Bakura interrupted with genuine curiosity.

"What, you mean the ones started by Otogi-_chan?_" the guy asked mockingly as he pointed at the boy who crossed his arms and continued glaring. "Well, we know he's a liar most of the time so we don't really buy them anymore."

Bakura smirked. "Oh, but what if I told you he's right?"

Ryou had to resist laughing as he saw the new leader pale. "You mean…" he said slowly, "You're actually –?"

"Oh honey, you have so much to learn," Bakura interrupted with a smile and a flick of his wrist. "Oh wait, but one of the rumors are false – I absolutely _hate_ Ishtar. Spread the word."

"No way! You've gotta be –"

"Gay as a fruit bat?" Bakura offered, smirking.

The disrespectable young man backed up, looking at Bakura like he was a hideous creature. "Fuck you man!"

"Oh, but you'd like that, wouldn't you?" Bakura replied with a wink.

The Friendship Gang's table, those surrounding it, and nearby tables promptly burst out laughing as they saw the new leader blush, stutter, and run off. "Well, I guess he couldn't handle the power of _me_," Bakura said smugly as he flipped some hair that was over his shoulders back, looking very much like a girl at that moment. This, of course, just caused everyone to laugh harder, and Bakura just sat there smiling, glancing at Ryou and thinking how happy he was just by seeing his little brother laugh.

"Glad you're permanently part of the team, Bakura-san," Yugi finally managed to say after calming down some, which is more than could be said for his brother, who was almost falling out of his chair with laughter at this very moment. "Did you see that kid's _face_ Yugi?-!" Atem asked, putting a hand on his shoulder to balance himself.

Yugi just rolled his eyes. "Yes Atem, it was very funny, now eat your lunch."

"I think that kid's gonna be too scared to even _look_ at you now Bakura!" Amora said, a highly amused smile on her face.

"Look?" Kana-chan asked. "Try, "be in the same _room_ with.""

"He'll probably have to change schools," Jounouchi joined in with a snicker.

"Not to mention _cities_," Honda added with a grin.

"Oh, I don't think he'll do anything _that_ drastic," Otogi put in. "But as long as you keep winking at him like that, he might go ballistic and we can get him expelled."

Bakura smirked. "I've always wanted to get a kid expelled," he mused.

"I know," Ryou mumbled, a very un-amused expression on his face.

Bakura chuckled, but ignored his brother's comment as he stood up. "Well," he told the question-asking group that was still at their table, "I'm done with questions for now. If you'll excuse me…" he said as he walked behind Otogi and placed both hands on his shoulders. He bent down so that his face was practically on top of one of his shoulders, causing the raven-haired boy to feel very uncomfortable. "… I'm going to go have a _chat_ with my _new friend_. Come on, _new buddy_," Bakura said, as he pulled Otogi out of his chair and started pushing him out of the lunchroom. Otogi managed to look back once and caught Marik's eyes, trying to ask for help. Unfortunately, Marik just smirked, closed his eyes and waved him off; he had no idea what Bakura was going to do to him, but he was pretty sure he approved (he still held a few grudges against the boy, and he knew Bakura wouldn't _hurt_ him… Well, he was pretty sure anyways).

Ryou just stared after them, wondering what Bakura could _possibly_ want with Otogi now, but he was thankful that the crowd was gone. He started talking to his new friends about miscellaneous things, and he couldn't help but smile as Amora tried, _once again_, to ask Jounouchi about Mai. He loved this school.

After a few minutes, Bakura and Otogi came back, and their expressions were complete opposites. Bakura looked very happy and smug about something, whereas Otogi was pale and looked very frightened and shocked about something. The white-haired boy took his rightful place at Ryou's side and smiled an "innocent" smile at him, which of course made Ryou suspicious. 'She' glanced over at the other boy, who was taking his seat next to Marik. He happened to catch 'her' eyes, and he blushed and looked away immediately. At first, Ryou was confused as to why Otogi seemed shy of him now, but then his eyes widened as he looked back at Bakura, who was leaning back in his chair with that same "innocent" smile on his face.

And then, Ryou became _angry_.

Ryou clenched his fists and felt himself start to shake. "Bakura," he started slowly. "You. Did. NOT."

Bakura shrugged nonchalantly, a smile still on his face. "Oh, but I did."

Ryou slammed his fists on the table, causing all of the conversations going on at said table to drop instantly. "I can't believe you!-!" 'she' yelled. "Why would you do that?-! I specifically told you _not_ to tell _anyone!_"

"Um," Amora interrupted, "what are you talking about?"

"_It's secret!_" Ryou snapped at her. He couldn't believe this; Bakura had _really_ told Otogi that he was a boy? Had he really gone and done that when he'd asked him _not _to. Ryou understood that Bakura usually did those types of things, but he _also_ knew that the older boy usually respected _his_ wishes, so why would he do that?-! Honestly, he probably wouldn't have been so mad about this if the girls hadn't cancelled the last stage of their plan; the step where Ryou donned his boy clothes and told Otogi he was a boy. Oh no, if that plan was still on he might have actually _thanked_ Bakura, but as it was? NO. He. Was. _Furious_. He was furious because now Otogi would never look at him the same way again, and it would be a constant reminder that he was lying to everyone and that everyone thought he was a girl… It would be a constant reminder that he was a huge, lying _jerk_ who probably deserved whatever Amora would do to him because of all that he'd done…

So, that is why he glared at Bakura with the white-hot intensity of a thousand suns, and that is why he stood up abruptly to go get some air and clear out his head. He walked stiffly towards the exit, when a short, green-haired, glasses-wearing boy intercepted 'her.' "Hey baby-doll," he said, "how'd you like to take a look at my bug collection some time?"

At this point, Ryou just snapped. _That…_ he thought to himself_, was the _worst_**. **_**Pick-up line**_**. EVER.**__ Even _I've_ heard better! What, does he think I'm some stupid, dependant girl who needs a man so desperately in my life?-!_ Ryou just stared at him with an unemotional mask on his face, while underneath there was a torrent of rage. He was _done_ with all these stupid boys looking at 'her' and deciding, "Oh, hey, _she's_ weak. An easy target!" He was _tired_ of having to deal with all of these _imbeciles_. And he was absolutely, positively, _fed up_, with all this unwanted flirting! That. Was. _It!_ He. Had. _Had it_.

Just as the green-haired boy was about to snap his fingers in front of 'her' face to have respond, 'she' smiled a sultry smile at him, causing shivers to go up his spine. 'She' brought a hand up and placed a finger playfully on his shoulder. "What's your name again?"

"Uh… Haga…" he said, a blush coming to his face. He hadn't actually expected that line to _work!_ Who would've thought?

Ryou batted his eyelashes. "Well Haga," he said in a low voice before his expression turned sour and he grabbed the boy's wrist, threw the arm over his shoulder and flipped him onto his back. "_Don't ever talk to me again_," he finished, glaring down at the boy who lay on the floor dazed and confused. "In fact," Ryou continued, kneeling down and rolling him over onto his stomach before grabbing one of his arms and twisting it over his back. He cried out in pain. "Don't even _look_ at me, if I even _see_ you I'm going to _rip out your hair strand by strand._ Do I make myself clear?" Haga was in too much pain to answer, all he could do was grit his teeth and close his eyes tight. Unfortunately, his silence enraged the already cracked boy. "I _said_," Ryou repeated as he twisted the arm up even more, "_Do I make myself clear?-!_"

"_YES!_" Haga cried out, wondering if he'd ever be able to move his arm again.

Ryou released the tortured appendage, and he quickly retracted it to his side to cradle it. The sight of the pathetic boy who thought he could get 'her' sickened him, and his brain was still on anger-overdrive, which was not a good combination. He raised a hand to strike him just _one last time_, just so he'd get the message, but just then he felt himself be pulled up by his armpits. "HEY!" he yelled, looking behind him and seeing his brother. "Bakura, let me go!-!"

"Ryou, as much as I _love_ to see you like this," Bakura said with a broad smile, "and I mean _**love**_, I know you'll regret this later when you're back to normal."

Ryou tried to struggle out of Bakura's firm grasp. "I don't care! Let me go!-!"

"Ryou, you're not yourself. Calm down."

"_I said let me go!_" Ryou screamed right before Bakura turned him around so he faced him instead and gave him a hug. Ryou pushed against Bakura, but then he felt his hair being pulled. His eyes immediately went wide and a blush crossed his face. "Bakuraaaaa!" he whined, pushing against him again. "Let go of my hair…! You, you know I don't like it…" he mumbled, finally snapped out of his anger rampage.

"You think I like knowing this about you?" Bakura said before releasing his hair. Yes, pulling on the Ying-Yang twins hair caused them to… go quiet, if you will. Bakura stopped hugging him and took a step back, smirking at his younger brother.

Ryou, on the other hand, was running his fingers through his hair, trying to get it to feel _right_ again, and completely unaware that the entire cafeteria was staring at him. Eventually, his hair felt normal again, and he looked at Bakura. They stared at each other for a while until Ryou's eyes widened and he slowly put his hands up to hide his slowly blushing face. "Bakura…" he said quietly. "Did I… snap, again?"

"Oh, big time," Bakura said with a nod.

"…" Ryou didn't say anything more before he ran out of there faster than a roadrunner, calling over his shoulder, "I'm sorry!-!-!"

Bakura chuckled and shook his head, a smile evident on his face. He looked down at Haga and felt an overwhelming sense of happiness; that little stunt just proved that Ryou _did_ remember some of the old karate he had learned, which made him feel _much_ better. He turned and walked back to his table, leaning back in his chair as everyone stared at him with slacked jaws.

"What… What just happened?-!" Atem was the first to break the silence, and his comment sent the whole cafeteria into a fit of hushed whispers. ("Did you _see_ that?-!" "That Ryou chick is crazy!" "I wouldn't want to mess with her." "Oh, I don't know, I think that just makes her more hot." "Are you crazy?-!" "Well, I mean, Haga probably started it, you know how much of a creep that guy is." "Hmm… yeah, you're right, Ryou was probably just defending herself." "Not to mention that she _did_ apologize." "Oh my gosh, she looked sooo _cute_ when she ran out!" "I know right!")

"I'll tell you what just happened," Bakura said with a superior air. "She snapped."

The Friendship Table was silent. "… What?" Tea asked.

"She snapped," Bakura simply repeated with a careless shrug, a smile still on his face.

"How do you mean, "snapped"?" Marik asked.

"Simple," Bakura started, waving a hand in the air. "She got tired of all these stupid boys flirting with her, and she snapped with anger."

"So, what you're saying is," Jounouchi articulated slowly, "that she's just as crazy as you?"

"Jounouchi!" Amora yelled at him. "Just because a woman is defending herself it makes her crazy?-!" she turned her head away from him and crossed her arms. "Shows what kind of man _you_ are!"

Jounouchi rolled his eyes. "Oh come on!" he complained. "You know I didn't mean it like that, stop twisting my words!"

As Amora and Jounouchi started fighting yet again, Kana-chan asked Bakura, "She'll be back to normal now though, right?"

"Of course, she usually doesn't last that long."

"Does she, "snap," often?" Yugi asked, hesitating a bit on the word "snap."

"Not really, only when something _really_ pisses her off."

"Is, _she_ gonna come back?" Otogi asked, gradually getting used to the fact that Ryou was actually a boy pretending to be a girl… What had mainly shocked him before was the fact that _he had actually kissed a boy_. _And liked it_. Granted, he had thought the boy was a girl at the time, so did that really prove that he _was_ gay or bi or whatever…? Ugh, whatever.

Bakura thought about this for a second. "I'm not sure…" he smirked. "Why don't you go look for _her_, Otogi-san?"

Otogi shrunk down in his seat a little bit. "Why don't you go? You know… her… better."

Marik just watched the conversation with mild fascination, wondering how nobody else was noticing how they emphasized or hesitated on the word "her."

* * *

Ryou was headed to the girl's locker room for gym class along with his fellow students. He had his head down and tried to ignore the comments about him, wishing he could just disappear right now… He was _so_ regretting his little outburst earlier, and he was just thankful that his friends weren't asking him all sorts of questions about it. Bakura must have explained to them… Thank _goodness_.

Anyways, he made it to the bathroom without seeing anything he shouldn't have, and immediately noticed that Anai was already in her stall. Wait a minute… That reminded him, Anai wasn't sitting with them at lunch today. "Hey Anai-san," he called.

"H-Hi, Ryou-chan…" she stuttered quietly.

"Where were you at lunch today?" Ryou asked as he walked inside the stall next to hers.

"… I was, um, outside… There was a big crowd at your table by the time I came down, and I didn't want to go through it…"

"Oh, I'm sorry," Ryou said genuinely, but then he thought of something. "So, uh… you didn't see anything that went on in the cafeteria today…?"

"No. Why? Did something happen?" Anai asked.

"Nope! Nothing major," Ryou quickly covered up. He exhaled in relief, extremely happy that Anai hadn't witnessed his little outburst. If she had seen that, there was no way she'd _ever_ talk to him _again_, and he didn't want that.

"Oh, okay…"

"Yeah," Ryou said. He soon finished changing and headed out, briefly wondering why Anai takes so long to get changed. She's in there before him and always out after him, why was that? Well, no matter. He made it to the gym unscarred, and then walked over to Bakura. "Hey…" he said hesitantly, still a little ashamed of his cafeteria scene.

Bakura smiled and patted him on the back. "Hey. Cheer up, at least now people know not to mess with you."

Ryou groaned. "You mean now people are afraid of me…"

"Well, maybe, but it's better than being harassed, isn't it?"

Ryou was about to say something when their gym teacher started speaking. "Okay everyone! You know that dodge-ball game we talked about last week?" The class let out an excited, "YES!" that caused the teacher to smile brightly. "Well," she continued, "we're gonna have it today after school against the other class!"

The entire gym resounded with cheers of joy, and the teacher just shook her head. "I'll never understand you kids… Anyways! That's _after_ school, right now we're going to –"

"But teacher!" someone interrupted. "If we're going to be playing dodge-ball against the other class, we should practice!" There were murmurs of agreement after this was said.

The teacher raised an eyebrow. "But that would give you an unfair advantage. No no, we'll stick with badminton right now." The class groaned. "Oh, boo-hoo! Tell it to your mommies you bunch of babies…" she mumbled.

Ryou smiled; he really liked badminton. It was one of the only gym sports that didn't require him to try and get the ball or whatever it was away from another person. Not to mention that everyone got to pick their own teams, so of course he teamed up with Bakura. Although, since this was the first day of playing badminton, the teacher was required to teach the rules and have them practice the different techniques for awhile, so they didn't actually play any actual games yet.

Before he knew it, the dodge-ball game had arrived. He didn't really like dodge-ball, the balls always hurt when they hit him and he didn't have a very good aim… The only thing he was good for was a decoy, really.

Anyways, class 9-B walked out into the track field, soon being joined by class 9-A, and Ryou easily spotted Otogi among the crowd. He smiled sheepishly and waved at the boy who now knew his secret, and much to his surprise, he smiled and waved back. Ryou was absolutely shocked; looks like Otogi really _had_ changed if he wasn't judging him!

Soon, the two classes were lined up and facing one another, a line of dodge-balls in-between them. Some were getting ready to run and grab the balls as soon as the whistle rang while others were just waiting for the game to _start_ already while others (albeit how small the group was) just wanted this game to be _over_ already so they could go home. The smell of friendly competition was clear in the air, and each class knew that whoever one would hold this against the other class for the rest of the school-year. Obviously, a lot was at stake.

Then, _hark!_ The whistle blew! People raced towards the line, grabbing dodge-balls and throwing them backwards for their team to grab and start using. It wasn't long before the multi-colored plushy balls were whizzing through the air, each trying to go to the destination their throwers intended. Many loud cries called out during the game; some of joy, some of disappointment, and not to mention all the witty banter that went back and forth between enemy lines. Sweat glistened in the sun like a shiny medal of honor as people ran, dodged, threw, and even fell sometimes, whether to avoid a ball or simply tripping.

During this glorious battle, Ryou mainly tried to stay in the back and not get hit while he watched Bakura go right up to the front lines, dodging dodge-balls like some sort of professional and getting kids out with ease. He also noticed Amora immediately trying to hit Otogi, shouting, "I'm still mad at you for what you did to Anai!" Ryou tilted his head to the side slightly upon hearing that, what had he done to that sweet girl…?

He noticed all of his other friends trying to get people out as well, especially Marik, who looked like he was having a blast. And much to Amora's dismay, it was _him_ who got Otogi out. Ryou couldn't help but smile at that, and eventually the inevitable happened; someone noticed him hanging in the back and asked him to be a decoy so they could get some of the other guys out. Ryou sighed but agreed, grabbing a ball, running up to the front lines, and yelling to get attention. He quickly had to run to avoid all the dodge-balls thrown at him, yikes!

Soon, a dodge-ball managed to hit him (it really wasn't fair though, since so many were being thrown at him), and he went to go sit out next to the field. He watched the game with interest, smiling and laughing a bit because he was pretty sure that Marik and Bakura had teamed up to get people out. And Bakura still denied Marik was a friend… _Nice try, big bro._

~!~!~!~

The game was over now; class 9-B had won (good thing too, Ryou wasn't sure if Bakura would be able to handle losing). Their entire class was cheering as 9-A just looked sour, and some were already asking the teacher for a rematch. Ryou just watched it all with fascination, not really wanting to join in since he hadn't really helped win the game all that much. He did see, however, a crowd of girls surrounding Otogi, and by the looks of it he seemed to just be talking to them like normal human beings instead of "girls." In fact, they were laughing a lot, and Otogi didn't try to touch or flirt with them once.

"I'm kind of proud of him," Ryou heard a voice over his shoulder. He turned around to see Marik standing behind him with crossed arms and a smile. "He's actually changing…"

Ryou smiled. "Yeah, I think it's great too."

"Attention! All Girls' Club members!" Ryou heard Tea call. "There is no meeting today! I repeat, there is no meeting today! Go home and do your homework!"

Ryou laughed. "It makes sense that there's no meeting today; the dodge-ball game took up all the time."

"What do you do in those things anyways?" Marik asked, for just like every male in Japarica high he was _extremely_ curious as to what went down at one of these things. (A few people thought that the girls were plotting how to take over the world, but of course Marik didn't believe that.)

Ryou blinked at him and then smiled, zipping his lips together. "It's a secret~," he said, holding a finger to his mouth and making a "Shh" sound. Unfortunately, that action made his cuteness meter rise by about, oh, 20 points **(2)**. And since he was normally a 7 on a scale of 1-10, you can imagine just how cute he looked to Marik at that point in time. Which is why he blushed a little and had to look away immediately, causing Ryou to look at him a little oddly and wonder why he looked away. Of course, in Ryou's mind, he figured it was because of his little cafeteria outburst earlier and immediately wished he could rewind time so that he _wouldn't have done that_. Was this one little incident going to haunt him for the rest of his life?-!

"I'm just glad that Ryou chick calmed down before the game," he overheard a 9-A student say to a fellow classmate. "I mean, did you _see_ her at lunch today?-! Can you imagine all that fury during the game? Our class would have been out a _lot_ faster, let me tell you."

… Apparently, it _was_ going to haunt him for the rest of his life…

* * *

Otogi was walking down the empty school halls, whistling a happy tune and not caring who heard, especially since he was so close to just skipping. After today, no one teased him about being gay anymore because they all had a new thing to obsess about: Ryou's Cafeteria Freak Out, as it was being called. Otogi couldn't help but chuckle; the Friendship Gang's table had been close enough to see and hear what had happened, but they were all just so _shocked_ to see Ryou, the sweet little _Ryou_, go absolutely ballistic on Haga. Especially since most people had only heard what Ryou shouted at him, and didn't actually know the whole story. But anyways, the point was that now Otogi had blended into obscurity! He was now just one of those people who could walk through the halls without having to say "Hi" to a million people or be expected to act a certain way, and he was _loving it_.

Yes, this day would have almost been perfect for him, if it wasn't for one, _tiny_ detail… and his name, was Pegasus.

"Excuse me!" Pegasus called to him. "Otogi-san, could I talk to you for a second?"

Otogi swallowed, already fearing this talk. Oh, why oh _why_ did he decide to wait around for that group of girl to go home before leaving to change out of gym clothes? And _why_ did he decide to take his sweet time changing? And _why in the world_ did he decide to walk down _Pegasus'_ hallway after school?-! Everyone knew that you didn't do that!

He took a deep breath before turning around and smiling weakly at the guidance counselor. "Sure, Pegasus…"

~!~!~!~

"Sooo," Otogi said once he was seated in the standard teen chair, across from Pegasus who was in his throne-like chair. "What did you want to talk about…?"

Pegasus had his eyes closed, so he opened one to look at Otogi before sighing. "Otogi-san, I know that Bakura is not the one responsible for your black eye and bruises."

Otogi felt cold fear grip his heart. "… What do you mean?" he asked, trying to trick the man. "Bakura –"

"Was nowhere near you when your _father_ did this to you."

Otogi stared at him, feeling hollow inside. "Please," he started begging, "it's okay, really. He was just mad, but it's okay now! I swear! This is the first time he's ever done anything like this, and I know he won't do it again, I promise! He's not an abusive father, please believe me, I –"

"Otogi!" Pegasus interrupted. Otogi stopped talking, and just now felt the tears that had fallen down his cheeks in the middle of his plea. "Otogi, it's all right… Just tell me all that happened and I'll see what happens from there, all right?"

Otogi felt panic take hold of him. "No!" he yelled, standing up. "I know what that means, you're going to take him away, aren't you? You can't! He's the only family I have left!" Otogi stared at the ground, closing his eyes tightly so as to try and stop the water flow. "He's the only family left… since my mom died… You can't take him away, you can't…!"

Pegasus looked at the poor boy in front of him, his heart practically breaking with the emotion and weakness he was revealing. Of course he wouldn't want to be taken away from his father… "… All right," Pegasus relented. "I won't tell anyone about your father's little, um, anger-fit, we'll say?" Otogi looked up at him with a relieved smile. "_However_," Pegasus continued, sounding more like a teacher, "if something like this _ever_ happens again, I'm reporting it immediately; that's not a safe home environment Otogi. You understand the difference between abuse and discipline, don't you?"

Otogi nodded so much that for a minute Pegasus thought his head was going to pop off. "Of course, sir!"

Pegasus sighed. "Please sit down." He waited until the boy did as he asked before saying, "Now, there's another matter to discuss… Will you press any charges, so to speak, against Marik and Bakura for all that they've done to you?"

Otogi shook his head and smiled. "No… it actually helped me in the long run."

Pegasus smiled, relieved. "Well, that's _one_ thing taken care of… Now, there's a more, _personal_ matter that I'd like to discuss…"

Otogi stared at him, knowing exactly what he was talking about, but asked anyways: "… What is it?"

Pegasus sighed. "Otogi-san, I've tried talking to you about your sexual orientation before, but you wouldn't listen…"

Otogi looked down, _really_ not wanting to talk about this with a _guidance counselor_ of all people. It didn't help that he was right; Pegasus _had_ tried to talk to him about this before, but of course Otogi had a lot of stake at that time… He had a reputation, and he didn't want his father to be disappointed in him… but now, everything was great! He could build a new reputation and his dad was perfectly fine with him being gay or bi or whatever he decided. "… Everything's fine now, sir. We don't need to –"

"Ah, but we do," Pegasus said, standing up and walking towards the window with his arms behind his back. "You never let me finish what I was going to say that one time," he continued, his back facing the boy. "I had explained to you how it was perfectly natural for you to have these feelings, these "desires" if you will –"

"Pegasus, this is making me uncomfor –"

"_And_," Pegasus interrupted, "I also told you how you had to accept these feelings, and that they wouldn't simply "go away," like you so wished them to." Otogi sighed, laying his head back on the couch and closing his eyes, just waiting for this to be over now. "Now, I'm happy to say that you've accepted these feelings, which I am very pleased to hear as it just clears up so much confusion and stress that you really don't need at this delicate stage in your development –"

"Is there a point to this?" Otogi interrupted, wanting to go home.

Pegasus turned around with a slightly annoyed look on his face. "_Yes_. The point is, back then I was going to tell you that based on your record and a few other factors, these feelings will probably go away."

Otogi stared at Pegasus, now fully intrigued. "… What?"

Pegasus walked back over to his chair and sat down, staring straight at Otogi. "You enjoy a young lady's company, don't you?" he asked.

"… Well, yes –"

"Well, then at the very most you're bi, not gay," Pegasus concluded. "Otogi, a lot of kids start having these feelings at your age, what with all their hormones and the things they hear nowadays, but most of them end up going away once they're a little older. I believe you're one of them."

"… But how are you so sure?" Otogi asked. "Why do you think they'll go away?" He didn't understand; if they'd go away, then what was he feeling…? Was it really just hormones talking? But then wouldn't the feelings have gone away by now? Why did they seem to be sticking with him? What was Pegasus talking about?-!

Pegasus stared at Otogi and sighed. "Well… I'm not one hundred percent certain that they'll go away, there's no way I can tell that… I'm mainly just basing this theory on your "womanizer" history." The guidance counselor stared deep into the pupil's eyes before saying, "I'm not going to lie to you Otogi; most likely, this will be something that will stay with you for the rest of your life. You might always have to deal with these feelings, even if you somehow manage to maintain a lasting relationship with a woman, unlike you _have_ been –"

"That really pissed you off, didn't it?" Otogi interrupted. It was something he'd noticed, Pegasus didn't really seem to like him all that much, and he figured it was because of all his "girlfriends."

Turns out he was right; Pegasus' eyes lighted with anger, even though the rest of his face stayed the same. "Well, I just don't find it very appropriate that you're dating at this age at _all_, actually. And I certainly don't like the fact that some men treat these young girls like they're objects. I, I just don't understand! In my day, we treated ladies like princesses, and now they… they… Sometimes your generation disgusts me, they –"

"Sorry…" Otogi interrupted, not wanting Pegasus to start ranting to him about how "the olden days were so much better."

Pegasus sighed. "I'm sorry… What was I talking about before?"

"Uh, you were just about to let me go…?" Otogi said hopefully.

Pegasus stared at him before smiling slightly. "All right, you're off the hook. For now."

The raven-haired boy smiled, stood up, and walked out of the room, calling over his shoulder, "Thanks Pegasus!" before he closed the door on his way out.

Pegasus stared at the door for a few moments before chuckling. "Four down," he muttered to himself, "zero to go… now I just have another problem to take care of…"

* * *

Kannibal-sensei was seated at his desk, working on some paperwork for the school, when he heard a knock at his door. "Come in!" he called before briefly looking up to see Pegasus enter. "Ah, Pegasus," he said, "to what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Oh, I'm afraid there's no "pleasure" coming along with this visit," Pegasus said as he sat down at the chair across from the principal. "It's all business."

Kannibal froze, slowly putting down the document he had been looking at and switching his gaze to his boss. "… And what business are we doing here?" he asked suspiciously.

Pegasus smiled kindly before saying, "You're fired, Kannibal-san."

Kannibal felt a pit appear in his stomach. "… What?" he asked, having a hard time believing it.

Pegasus stood up. "You heard me; you're fired. Please leave and take all your things with you by the end of the day, though I'll understand if you need to come back tomorrow to pick up a few things. A _few_ things, mind you, not all."

"Y-You can't be serious!" the ex-principal said as he stood up, panic-stricken. This was the only job he had, where was he going to get another one?-!

"I'm afraid that I am," Pegasus said before patting him on the shoulder. "I really wish it didn't have to come to this… but I think it's best for all the students, as well as the school." Pegasus smiled at him before saying this next part, "And surely you know how important having an _elite_ school is, yes?"

Kannibal looked up at his previous boss before sighing and looking at the ground. "I'll… start packing…"

Pegasus smiled. "Wonderful! I do hope you find a job soon, Kannibal-san," he said as he walked out the door.

"And I hope one day you get arrested as a pedophile," Kannibal muttered under his breath before starting to pack up.

* * *

**(1)**: I don't know many Japanese dishes… all I know is that there's a lot of fish and rice involved *shifty gaze* (why do I write about Japan when I don't live there?-!)

**(2)**: I was soooo tempted to put: "His cuteness meter rose to OVER 9000!" XD

… **I have too many useless details in here, don't I? XD **

**Well, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! I'm just happy Otogi's ark is finally over… Oh my gosh, it took so much longer than I thought. I also hope you all enjoyed Amora and Anai's back-story (actually, that's only part of it. I have so much back-story planned for every character XD). I also hope you liked Ryou's freak out and Pegasus firing Mr. Kannibal! (There was so much that happened in this chapter… Even I forget all that happened. Although to be fair, I did write this sporadically over a period of MONTHS -_-") **

**Also: I auditioned for a role in a TV Pilot, and they narrowed the role down between me and another girl… I have to go back this Saturday with a prepared monologue to read for them to decide… EEEP! It's a callback, I got a callback. I'M FREAKING OUT. Anyways, if I get the part, than updating will probably be even slower than it is right now… (I'm so sorry for that TT_TT) **

**Any questions, concerns, or comments, then click that pretty little button below that says, "Review this Chapter." Come on, do it to make me happy and give me luck for my callback…? I'm so close to 100 reviews that I'm screaming inside… **

**Have a wonderful life! :3 **

_**~~~{REVIEW REPLY}~~~ **_

**Vi**: I'm glad you loved the last chapter! :3 That makes me happy~! And yeah, poor Otogi… ah well, he's better now. And I'm glad you like Bakura and Ryou's conversations! I work pretty hard on them, and they're really fun to write ^^ You're welcome for the update! (and this one too XD) Thank you very much for reviewing~! I love your reviews :3


	12. Calm Before Calamity

**I'm so sorry this is so… many… months… late TT_TT I hate making you wait so long and I always feel guilty about it, but at the same time I know that schoolwork comes first and I have a life and I don't want to give you some lame, rushed attempt at trying to write the way I do just to update quicker, so… yeah, you get this ._. I think it's worth it, do you? ^^" **

**On another note, my dear friend Anime-on-replay recently turned 17 (her birthday was October 26****th****), so I want you all to spam her inbox with belated happy birthday messages! BECAUSE I'M EVIL! MUA HA HA HA HAAAA! **

**And now you may proceed with the chapter – I HOPE YOU LIKE IT! =) **

Chapter 12: Calm Before Calamity

* * *

Ryou was sitting at his desk, quietly scribbling down the answers for his history assignment. He was enjoying the peace and quiet in the classroom, especially since his life had been fairly loud as of late. What with starting out school as a girl and then having to deal with and worry about Otogi - not to mention all of the other small dramas - the younger twin was definitely glad for the change. Things actually seemed calm to him now: he went to the fun Girls' Club meetings unless he had to work - which he enjoyed - and Marik and Bakura hadn't majorly fought in a while! Just some harmless squabbling.

School itself was fairly quiet as well. He had expected a lot of people to be afraid of him after his little… "outburst" against Haga, but everyone seemed to either not care, realize his actions were justified, or had something else to talk about because almost everyone was still nice to him. Although Haga never dared to look him in the eyes again, but Ryou couldn't really blame him for that…

All in all, his life was going fabulously right now. Even Bakura seemed calmer, although he also felt like he didn't see so much of him anymore. At school they didn't sit right next to each other like they used to, and at home their time was taken up mostly by homework. It was true they spent time with each other at work, but they were usually busy _working_ to really talk all that much. The only time Ryou really saw and talked to Bakura was at breakfast, lunch, and dinner now, and not even at lunch so much since there were so many other people around. He kind of missed his older brother… and he knew that Bakura felt the same, even if he didn't know how much he missed the younger twin. Which, in case you were wondering, was a lot.

Anyways, not seeing his brother so much was really the only downside to this new calm that had settled over, and considering a lot of other factors that seemed like a pretty fair trade. Maybe it was a good thing they were spending some time apart anyways… maybe. Nonetheless, he hoped things would stay serene for a long time still.

_Oh darn_, Ryou thought to himself as he held up a broken pencil-tip to his eyes. He scooted his chair out to stand up and sharpen it, but then some boy two desks away whispered to him quickly, "I'll sharpen it for you!"

Ryou blinked at him confusedly. "Uh, okay…" he said hesitantly, unsure of why anyone would offer to sharpen someone else's pencil. Maybe he was really bored? Or maybe he liked to sharpen pencils; he had heard of a lot of weird habits like that so it wasn't too unrealistic. Unfortunately, the possibility that this boy had a slight crush on "her" never crossed his mind, which was the actual case.

The boy took Ryou's pencil with a happy air and walked up to the pencil sharpener at the front of the class. He almost felt like keeping the pencil for himself and giving Ryou another one; Ryou had touched it~.

These actions did not go unnoticed by the older Yin-Yang twin. Bakura glared at the boy, his eye twitching slightly. This was not the only boy he had noticed that had a slight "crush" on his little "sister," and he was getting tired of seeing them everywhere. If Ryou ever dropped something in the hallways (which happened more often than you'd think was possible), at least three guys bent down to pick it up for "her." If "she" looked confused on a problem, a group offered to help "her." And if "she" looked sad or hurt… well, Bakura had to look quite intimidating to keep away anyone who would try and "comfort" "her" away.

In actuality, Bakura's life did not seem very "calm" at the moment. In fact, he found it pretty hectic trying to keep all of these damn suitors off of Ryou. He hadn't thought that he'd attract so much attention as a girl! Especially after that little display in the lunchroom last week; he had expected boys to be afraid and/or intimidated by such a girl, but it only seemed to increase their fondness for "her."

How. The. Hell. Did. That. Work?! He had thought most boys wanted a docile little girlfriend that would do whatever they said, not someone who could break your arm if she was mad enough! What was wrong with this school?

Bakura continued glaring at the "helpful" boy as he walked back to Ryou's chair and handed "her" the pencil. "Here you are, Ryou-chan," he said. At the use of the honorific "chan," Bakura's own pencil mysteriously broke…

"Thank you," Ryou said politely with a smile that made the other boy practically melt (the sight made Bakura feel like hitting his head on his desk repeatedly).

Once the boy sat down, Bakura kept glaring at him, smirking to himself when he noticed the hairs on the back of his neck stood up. Well, looks like he did notice his disapproval. He had to stop his glaring when a folded up piece of paper landed on his desk though. He turned to look at Marik, knowing full well that it had come from him. No doubt it had some smart-aleck comment on it about his "brother complex."

He was right; written on the white piece of paper was: _All of Ryou's suitors are getting to you, aren't they 'Kura? _

Bakura could almost _taste_ the sarcasm and amusement that went into the paper. He quickly wrote back, _Surely you're annoyed too, right?_ _More competition, after all_.

What Marik wrote next made Bakura feel like ripping those pretty little fingers right out of his hand. _You mean, more competition for __you?_ The older twin couldn't even respond to that one, mainly because it was true, but also because Marik would recognize anything that he wrote back as a lie. As the days had gone by, his clever little classmate seemed to recognize and accept the fact that Bakura loved Ryou as more than a brother, and he also knew how protective he was… which, in hindsight, wasn't exactly rocket science, but it still impressed Bakura that Marik could take that news so easily.

"Do you need help, Ryou-san?" Marik whispered to Ryou, immediately earning the attention of Bakura.

Ryou seemed surprised. "Yes, actually. I can't find the answer for this one question," he said quietly back.

"Oh," Marik said, looking at his paper. "Yeah, that one's tricky. Want me to help?"

Ryou smiled thankfully. "Yes, please! Thanks."

Marik somehow managed to move his desk right next to Ryou's without making too much noise on the hardwood floor, but how close Marik and Ryou now were was not what bothered Bakura the most. Nor did the fact that half of the boys in the room turned to stare at Marik with a look of jealousy bother him explicitly.

No, what bothered Bakura the most was the fact that Marik took the time and _gall_ to turn around and stick his tongue out at Bakura with a grin so cocky that Bakura's eye started twitching again and his face contorted in to a scowl. When had this turned into a competition for Ryou's attention? Although he had to admit he'd prefer Marik over all of the other boys in the school for Ryou. Besides, Bakura was still certain that he wasn't over his last breakup yet, so the chances of anything happening between them were slim to none.

… Right?

"The answer should be in this section, right?" Ryou asked Marik as he pointed to a section in his text book.

Marik chuckled. "You'd think so, wouldn't you? It's actually on this page," he responded, flipping the page over.

"Really?" Ryou asked, creasing his eyebrows at the page as he read. But the answer being in that section made no sense! The other page's titles matched the question better than these ones. He scanned the page anyways since Marik seemed sure, and soon found what he was looking for. "Wow, thanks," he said with a smile as he wrote down the answer.

Marik smiled, happy to help him. "No problem, I love history."

Ryou turned to smile at him. "I can see that." They stared at each other for a little bit, smiling, until Ryou blushed slightly and looked back at his assignment. It just occurred to him how close they were… but that was understandable, considering Marik was helping him with homework, so really it was no big deal… "Well, uh, that's all I really needed help with…" why did he suddenly feel so jittery and awkward?

"It'd be a pain to move my desk back though," Marik commented casually, really just wanting to stay next to the kind boy.

"Oh, I guess," Ryou said, still not looking at him. "Um… if I need any more help I'll ask you…"

"Sure - ow!" Marik said before rubbing the back of his head. Something had just hit his head, and he was pretty sure he knew the culprit. He turned to look at Bakura, who was just glaring at him with a look that clearly said, "Back. Off." He had been watching this little "flirting" session with heated eyes, and upon seeing how awkward Ryou looked he lost it and threw half of his pencil at the blonde's head.

Marik just rolled his eyes. "Oh, real mature, Baku -"

"Ishtar-san, is there a problem?" the history teacher asked harshly.

Marik sighed before turning around. "No, sensei, I was just helping a student with a question."

"It looked to me like you were just talking," she insisted.

"Well, helping would include a little verbal communication, wouldn't you agree?" Marik responded sarcastically before he could stop himself. He immediately regretted saying that though, as the teacher looked royally pissed off at him now.

"Don't talk back to me, Ishtar! You know what I meant."

"H-he really was helping me," Ryou spoke up. He felt a little embarrassed since the class was staring at them now, but he didn't want Marik to get in trouble because of him.

The teacher looked at Ryou's honest face and sighed. "All right… perhaps you two would like to move to the hall then, if you're going to be so loud?" This announcement was immediately met with groaning from the other students, saying it was unfair that they got to work together while everyone else had to work by themselves. Although Bakura could tell most of them were just jealous that Marik got to work with Ryou alone, which also had him slightly worried. A lot could happen in a hallway… he immediately tried to banish his thoughts, but as he saw Marik smirk and say that he'd love to go in the hallway with Ryou-chan, he couldn't help but growl silently. That sly, clever, nonchalant, little brat!

Meanwhile, Ryou's eyes widened. _In the hallway? With Marik? Alone?_ For some odd reason, the thought made him a little nervous, but he wasn't sure why. All they'd be doing was homework, nothing to get worked up over. It's not like the teacher was telling them to go on a study-date…

Ryou couldn't help but feel a shiver go up his spine at that last thought.

The two stood up and traversed up the classroom to the door, being met with stares and glares the entire way and making Ryou feel uncomfortable - he was actually glad he was escaping the looks in the safety of the hallway now, despite his previous thought. But what he didn't know was that right before the classroom door closed behind them, Marik grinned and winked at Bakura, as if telling him, "Don't worry~, we'll just be out here. Alone~!"

The older boy's teeth suffered a brutal grinding after that.

* * *

"This new game we found is so fun!" Yugi was telling everyone at the lunch table, a huge grin on his face. It's a role-playing game - you like those, right Ryou?" Yugi interrupted his tale to address the fair white-head specifically.

"What?" Ryou said, tearing her gaze away from her food. Her brain quickly digested Yugi's words though and she answered, "Oh! Yes, that's right."

Yugi nodded with a smile, almost as if telling her it was okay she wasn't paying attention. "Cool! You should try this sometime then. Anyways, you get to include all sorts of cool features to make the character as close to you as possible! Then you can choose to either go on a magical quest that's picked at random, go through high school life, fight random people with all these cool weapons, or some other different options! It's really fun, and –"

Ryou kind of tuned Yugi out as he kept talking about this supposedly fantastic game, instead thinking about history class earlier, and how he was in the hallway with Marik… He didn't know what he had been expecting to happen, exactly, but he felt his stomach fill up with nerves when they started working together like that, and he wasn't sure why. Marik was a friend, right? There's nothing wrong with doing homework with a friend. Well, obviously Bakura didn't think that, because as soon as the bell rang Bakura had slid that classroom door open so fast that Ryou thought he might've broken it. Which would have been bad, since the money they got from their job wasn't that much, and their aunt and uncle… well, they don't really like to be bothered.

He glanced over Marik then, who seemed to at least be paying attention to what Yugi was saying, even if he might not have cared too much. Of course, that was just on the outside – on the inside he was thinking over their little "Study Session" earlier as well.

Marik had finally come to terms with the fact that, yes, Ryou was a boy. Who was pretending to be a girl. For reasons still unknown to him. And, while he was still extremely curious as to what the reason or reason_s_ were, it didn't really change the fact that… he liked Ryou, and he liked him because of _who_ he is, not _what_ he is. And, correct him if he's wrong, but it seemed like Ryou was at least _slightly_ interested in him.

Which, of course, was bothering Bakura.

He had thought for sure that he'd have at least a few _months_ before Ryou even showed an interest in another person, since his last relationship had ended so horribly. But now he feared that he'd only have a few _weeks_ before this "interest" in Ishtar advanced to the next level…

"… I think it'd be fun if we all played at the same time!" Yugi was still saying. "Since it's an online game and all, we could play with or against each other and talk."

"Yeah," Atem said, nodding. "There's also this one girl that we found who's called "UtsuTré" or something, and we've been having a hard time beating her."

"Maybe you guys could help," Yugi added.

"Eh, games aren't really my thing," Amora said, eating her lunch. She grinned before clarifying, "Unless it's a _love_ game~!"

"I'd love to play!" Kana-chan said, smiling. "Can you write down the web address for me?"

"Sure thing!" Yugi said, happy that someone was finally showing an interest. "Otogi? What about you?"

The newest member of the group shrugged. "I guess I'll check it out. I usually don't like online games though… I feel like I get more addicted to them."

"I know what you mean," Yugi said, groaning. "Just yesterday I spent, like, three hours playing this game, and –"

"Pegasus alert," Marik interrupted casually just as the man walked up.

"Hello boys and girls," he said, sounding much more somber than usual. It wasn't just the way he sounded though – he also had visible bags under his eyes, his hair was a little frizzed, and he just looked _exhausted_.

"Are you okay, Pegasus?" Ryou asked, creasing his eyebrows.

Pegasus sighed. "No, I'm really not," he admitted, sighing and holding a hand up to his forehead. "Ever since I let the principal go, I've had to handle both his job _and_ my usual guidance counselor position. It's very tiresome, but I can't seem to find a replacement principal so easily." He looked around the table, "You wouldn't happen to know anyone who would like to run a school, would you?"

"Afraid not," Jounouchi said. "Sorry, P."

Pegasus sighed. "Of course… anyways, I was just wondering if everyone was feeling all right?" He tried to look at each person evenly, but it was obvious he stared at Otogi for just a little while longer than everyone else. "Nothing bad is going on? No one's having any trouble with their classes?"

"Everything's been pretty calm around here, actually," Marik replied.

"Calm and _boring_," Amora muttered.

"Is that so?" Pegasus said, seeming to not have heard her. "Well, I can't be too sure. I've been so busy lately that I'm not as "in tune" with the students as I'd like to be…" He seemed to zone out for a few seconds before he smiled down at Ryou and patted him on the shoulder. "By the way, Ryou, did you think more about joining the play?"

"Yeah," Ryou replied, smiling up at him. "I think it'll be fun, so I'm joining."

"Excellent!" Pegasus said, smiling brightly. "I'm glad to –"

"Wait," Amora interrupted, looking at Ryou. "You're joining the play?" After he nodded Amora grinned and announced, "Then I'll join too!-! It'll be _interesting_ if you're there." The chuckle she gave at the end of her sentence sent shivers down Ryou's spine, but he wasn't sure why…

"I do have to clarify," Pegasus spoke up again, "you're not "joining" the play, you're "auditioning.""

"What's the difference?" Atem asked.

"The difference is that you might not get a part," Pegasus explained, smiling weakly. "We'll try to find a part for everyone, but there's no guarantee."

"Well, that's fine," Amora said.

"Is anyone else thinking of joining?" Pegasus asked, looking around.

"Miho is!" Miho exclaimed smiling brightly. Pegasus laughed and gave a wink, which confused everyone at the table. _Why did he wink?_

"What about you, Sagaki-chan?" Pegasus asked, looking at the shy girl who had been trying to go unnoticed throughout the entire lunch period. She still wasn't quite adapted to sitting with them again, after eating outside for the past year… "Um, I, I don't know…" she said quietly.

"Hm?" Pegasus asked, holding a hand up to his ear and leaning forward. "I'm sorry, I didn't catch that. You should really speak louder, dear."

"I don't know…" she repeated, just a notch louder.

"You should!" Amora said, smiling.

"Yeah," Ryou agreed, smiling encouragingly at her. "It'd be fun."

"W-well…" she said, looking around at everyone smiling and nodding at her. With a last look at Ryou, she gave a weak smile, remembering how 'she' wanted her to smile more, and said, "Sure, w-why not?"

"I'm glad to hear it," the guidance counselor said warmly. "Anyone else?"

Marik hesitated a bit before saying, "I think I'll audition."

"Me too," Bakura added quickly, staring at his fingernails and pretending not to be interested. Marik rolled his eyes at how hard he was trying to show his "disinterest" when he knew full well that the older twin just wanted to "protect" the younger.

Silence settled over them then, so Pegasus gave a grin and extended his hands in a grand gesture. "I'll expect to see all of you there, then!"

"What?!" Jounouchi exclaimed, standing up so fast that his chair was shoved back. "No way! I'm not interested in some stupid play!"

"There's no harm in auditioning, Jounouchi," Pegasus said sternly. "Really now, have a more open mind." He gave a wave before taking a step away from their table, calling, "I'm going to check with some other students now, but don't forget what I said about the play!"

As soon as he was out of earshot, Jounouchi pounded his fists on the table. "Damn it! I don't want to prance around on stage like some fairy ballerina!-!"

"Relax, Jou," Yugi said, pulling his arm to try and make him sit down.

"Yeah," Atem added, "I mean, what would he even do if you didn't show up?"

"Why don't you just try, Jounouchi?" Otogi asked. "I was actually thinking of auditioning myself."

Marik looked at him for a second before glancing at Bakura, who was already smirking and trying not to laugh. Upon seeing Marik's gaze, however, they both started laughing.

"What's so funny?" Ryou asked, switching between his brother and Marik.

"N-nothing!" Bakura said, holding a hand up to his forehead. "Just… just an inside joke, that's all!"

Otogi raised an eyebrow at Marik, knowing that Bakura would definitely not tell him anything, but the Egyptian just waved him off, trying to control himself.

(For those of you wondering why Marik and Bakura are laughing, it is because they had decided earlier on that if Otogi auditioned for the play, people would assume he did it to meet girls. As opposed to people thinking he's gay, like teenagers normally would for boys who are in plays.)

"Is Pegasus in charge of the play too?" Ryou asked, mainly to change the subject since it seemed that Marik and Bakura were not going to calm down anytime soon.

"Yeah," Kana-chan informed. "I know it's usually the drama teacher that runs it, but Pegasus loves "the theatre," and absolutely insists on directing it every year."

"But he's already so busy…" Ryou said, frowning.

"He's a stubborn one, that guy is," Jounouchi said, fuming.

"You just don't want anyone to see your horrible acting skills," Otogi taunted, smirking at him.

Jounouchi glared at him. "That was two years ago, I've improved since then!"

"What are you talking about?" Ryou and Bakura said in unison. They turned to each other with slight surprise and smiled at each other. It seemed that even if they hadn't been as close lately, they still had their twin connection.

"When Jounouchi was an itty-bitty seventh grader –" Otogi began, being interrupted with:

"You were in the same grade as me!-!"

" – he auditioned for the school play and made a complete fool of himself."

"How so?" Marik asked, having not heard this story until now either.

Otogi grinned and said, "Well, while he was auditioning for the part –"

"Don't –!"

"– his pants got caught on a nail and –"

"I swear, if you continue I'll –!"

"– while he walked forward, his pants stayed behind…"

Jounouchi groaned and slammed his head on the lunch table as everyone around him laughed. "It's not funny…"

"Cheer up," Otogi said, chuckling to himself. "At least you were wearing boxers that day."

"Ah, because you'd have those events permanently etched into your brain, huh?" Bakura asked slyly, smirking.

Otogi blushed slightly and glared at him. "I'm not swapping gay jokes with you."

"The fact that you're not even denying it worries me slightly," Bakura continued, laughing. He felt a dig in his side from Ryou's elbow, but he ignored it.

The recently-turned homophobe slammed his hands on the table. "Are you picking a fight?!"

"Why _aren't_ you denying it?" Jounouchi asked quietly.

Otogi blushed more just as Marik chimed in with: "Well, his diary _did_ mention –"

"_Shut it, Ishtar!_" Otogi yelled at him. "Stop making up lies!-!"

"Well, I can't blame you, Otogi," Jounouch said, chuckling and striking a pose. "It _is_ pretty hard to resist this body~."

"Ugh," Otogi said, slamming his head on the table, much like Jounouchi did not more than one minute ago. "You guys suck…"

Everyone laughed at his obvious embarrassment, though Bakura enjoyed Otogi's torment especially. Ryou _did_ laugh a bit, but after he was done he caught a glimpse of Anai, who appeared to be staring at "her." He smiled at her kindly, which immediately made her blush and look down at her food. _I don't think I'll ever meet a more shy girl_, Ryou thought to himself, coming out of his thoughts when Bakura patted him on the back. "Yo, sis," he whispered, "we have work today, right?"

Ryou nodded, not even noticing the "sis" anymore. "Yeah, we work till eight today."

Bakura groaned. "How the hell are we supposed to get our homework done?"

"Well, if you'd actually work through homeroom instead of bothering our classmates –"

"They're asking for it," Bakura mumbled. Which was true for him; every one of his classmates that he "bothered" were the ones that had taken an interest in Ryou.

Ryou rolled his eyes with a smile before patting his brother on the shoulder. "We can do it together, don't worry. Marik and I already finished our history for today, anyways."

Bakura scowled. "Good for you both…" He glanced over at Marik, who had been listening in on the conversation, just in time to see him smirk and wiggle his fingers at him. The only consolation to this infuriating act was that Otogi's forehead was still pressed firmly to the table.

* * *

"Bye, girls!" Ryou called as he left the locker room.

"Bye, Ryou!" a few called back.

Ryou smiled. Gym class just ended and he was done changing, so now he had to go to work with Bakura. He was kind of glad that he wouldn't have to stay behind for the Girls' Club meeting, but at the same time he felt a little disappointed – the girls _always_ had something funny and interesting to say. Oh, what was he talking about? He was a _boy_; should he really be enjoying the Girls' Club so much? And anyways, he needed this job to pay for a cell phone.

"Hold up!" a loud, familiar voice called. Ryou stopped walking and turned around, smiling at Amora who was frowning slightly. "You sure you can't stay for just a few minutes? Today's meeting might be super important!"

Ryou shrugged. "Sorry, I have to work right after school."

Amora sighed. "Well, okay, but –"

"Ryou, come on," Bakura said as he walked up to his brother. "We gotta go – you've wasted enough time already."

"Give her a break," Marik scolded, rolling his eyes. "Not like you didn't take your sweet time changing."

"Oh, and of course _you_ would notice that."

"Why are you two always arguing?" Ryou interrupted before Marik could respond.

"Because he _refuses to leave_," Bakura seethed, glaring at him.

"You don't have to wait for me, you know," Ryou said, turning to Marik, much to the annoyance of Bakura.

Marik smiled. "It's my pleasure."

"Please, all of you, stop," Amora chimed in, holding a hand to her forehead. "The threesome between you is overwhelming."

"I don't believe in threesomes," Ryou and Bakura both said in unison before looking at each other and grinning. Marik and Amora both looked at them oddly as the twins burst into laughter.

It was a funny story between them and threesomes – their old Health class had gotten to talking about it one day, and amidst joking and other things (such as Bakura covering Ryou's ears and saying that such a talk was too inappropriate for his innocent ears), they had come to the conclusion that they didn't see how it could _work_. Wouldn't one always be jealous of the other? Or even the other two? And, Bakura brought up this point, how would that work in… you know, the bedroom? Of course, Ryou didn't even want to try and _think_ about that, but the point still remained that threesomes made no sense in their minds.

"Noted," Amora said, smiling slightly. "Anyways, I'll catch you up on the meeting tomorrow, neh?" She patted Ryou on the back before pausing. She started rubbing her hand all along Ryou's back, much to his confusion.

"Amora? Are you okay?" "she" asked.

"Yes, it's just…" she seemed shocked by something, though for the life of Ryou he could not figure out what. "Ryou, are you not wearing a bra?"

". . . _What?!_" Ryou exclaimed, blushing bright red. Bakura simply started to laugh uncontrollably; he even had to prop himself against the wall to keep himself upright and wrap his arms around his stomach he was laughing so hard.

Marik, on the other hand, just blushed slightly and looked extremely uncomfortable. "Amora," Marik said, clearing his throat slightly, "Remember that talk we had awhile ago about how some conversations should be discussed in _private?_"

"Oh, right, I forgot about that," she admitted sheepishly. "Well, the question's already asked, sooo, Ryou…?"

Ryou just stared at her, mouth agape and his mind completely blank. "I, uh…"

"I mean, I might be a pancake girl too, but even _I_ wear a training bra."

Bakura stumbled over to them at that point, still giggling. "Well, you see, Amora… she doesn't really have _anything_ "up there."" He punctuated his sentence with more loud laughter, bending over and starting to believe that one _could_ die from laughing too much.

Ryou's eye started to twitch as he sighed and held a hand up to his forehead. "Yes, he's right…"

Amora raised an eyebrow and looked between Ryou and Bakura multiple times, and even glanced at Marik a few times. "All righty then," she said, shrugging and smiling. "I'll see you tomorrow, fellow pancake!" She waved him off as she ran back to the locker room, which means she was out of range when Ryou went over and kicked the ever-laughing Bakura _hard_ in the shins.

"Ow!" Bakura yelled, cringing slightly. "What was that for?!"

"For saying that!-!"

Bakura crossed his arms and stuck his tongue out. "Well, it was obvious you weren't going to say anything."

"I can handle things myself, Bakura," Ryou said, narrowing his eyes. "And come on, really?!"

"Well, why _else_ wouldn't you wear a bra?" Bakura asked, not being able to help the giggle that came at the end of that sentence. "I'm sorry!" he added upon seeing the less-than-amused look on his brother's face.

Ryou rolled his eyes and turned to Marik with a too-sweet smile. "Marik, would you be a dear and walk me to work? I don't think the _hyena_ back here is up for the job."

"Oh come on," Bakura said, rolling his eyes. "I'm more than capable of –"

"I'd be glad to," Marik said, trying to push all thoughts of the previous conversation out of his mind. _I'll never understand how Bakura handles these things so well, _he thought as he glanced at him._ … Okay, maybe "well" isn't the right word for it…_ But still, when such a mental picture entered _his_ mind, he just froze up and looked embarrassed. Maybe it was different since they were brothers?

"Excellent," Ryou said, smiling happily. He turned to Bakura with a smug look. "Well, see ya later, Onii-chan~!"

"Ryou, get back here!" he called as his younger brother grabbed Marik's hand and ran off with him, laughing all the way. "_Ryou!_"

"Run, run, as fast as you can! You can't catch me, I'm the gingerbread man!" Ryou called back laughing before turning to Marik and whispering, "Sorry to drag you in to this."

"I don't mind," he responded with a smile, glancing at their interwoven hands.

Yeah, he didn't mind a bit~

* * *

Bakura sat behind the cash register grumbling to himself as he watched Ryou do price-checks. He couldn't believe that the little devil had run with Marik _all the way to work_. Was he really that mad at him for laughing? It was a funny situation!-!

"Are you still mad at me?" Ryou asked, grinning at his brother. "Marik's right – you're so _moody_."

Bakura growled. "Never say the words "Marik's right" _ever_ again in my presence."

Ryou giggled as his scanner beeped. He looked at it before saying, "Why do you hate him so much anyways? He's a nice guy."

Bakura frowned. He really _did_ have something to worry about… Their relationship was progressing much faster than he had originally thought. "I don't know. I just don't." _Oh, what I'd give to even be _allowed_ to tell you the truth_… he added to himself sourly.

"And here I thought you two were becoming friends," he noted offhandedly.

"Sadly, I can see why you'd think that."

"Since you have so much in common?"

"Including who we like," Bakura mumbled under his breath.

"What?" Ryou asked just as their boss, Hashime, came out from the back.

"Hey guys, how's it going?" he greeted cheerfully. Ryou smiled; he liked their boss – he was a bigger guy with dark hair, and also really kind. "How are those prices, Ryou-san?"

"Great so far, not a one out of place."

"Excellent. And Bakura, any costumers since I last checked?"

He shook his head. "Nope. Today's slow."

"Darn," Hashime said, frowning. "Well, keep up the good work! I have to step out for a few minutes and pick up some supplies, can I trust you two to watch the shop while I'm gone?"

Ryou said "Yes!" excitedly as Bakura creased his eyebrows together and asked, "Isn't that illegal?"

Hashime laughed. "I sure hope not! Although stealing _is_ illegal, so just remember that." Bakura scowled when their boss gave a pointed look at him; obviously he had done some research on his employees. But then why was he leaving them alone for a few minutes? A trust exercise? "Well, I'll be off then, boys," he glanced at Ryou before saying, "er, you two."

Bakura had to cover his mouth with his hand to keep from laughing as he watched Hashime fast-walk out of the store. He couldn't help the sound that escaped his mouth when Ryou glared at him, however. He had a feeling that Ryou had absolutely no idea how cute he looked when he did that – he looked like an angry kitten for Pete's sake.

"Are you going to laugh every time the problem of my gender comes about?"

"Problem?" Bakura asked in a fake voice. "What problem? You're a boy who's pretending to be a girl, not a problem here!" He laughed more before adding, "Unless you _are_ starting to question your gender, in which case I won't laugh anymore."

Ryou rolled his eyes. "I'm a boy, Bakura. Relax."

"Aw, but you'd look so cute in a dress."

Ryou blushed bright red. He had started to say, "Hey -!" just before the door _ding_ed, signaling someone else was in the store. The boy, instead, sighed and glared at him again, mouthing, "I'll deal with you later!"

Bakura just wiggled his fingers in goodbye as his brother walked away to help the costumer. He chuckled to himself before sighing. He missed the days when they were like this _all_ the time, and not just for moments _at_ a time. But, that's life, he supposed.

Meanwhile, Ryou walked up to the two costumers that had entered, his hand raised in an unspoken "Hi" as the taller of the two scolded, "Mokuba, quit whining!"

"But Seto, I don't want my _own_ phone, I just like playing with yours!" the younger one said as he pouted, strands of his long raven hair falling in front of his eyes. Ryou had to stop himself from grinning; he _knew_ that technique – he was trying to look cute so his friend would be more lenient to give him what he wanted. Heh, he's only used that on Bakura about a million times through the years.

"Well, I _need_ my phone, so I'm going to get you your own so you _stop_ playing with it."

"Um, can I help you two?" Ryou interrupted, feeling a little uncomfortable from witnessing the dispute.

"We can look by ourselves," Seto told him sternly, glaring at the trying-to-be-helpful boy. Mokuba crossed his arms and looked away, obviously displeased with his friend's response.

"Okay," was all Ryou said in response, smiling sheepishly. "Well, if you need anything, just ask."

As an answer, Seto pushed Mokuba forward to pass him, which Ryou found to be quite rude. _Who does this guy think he is?_ he asked himself, frowning a bit. Rolling his eyes as he saw them looking at the various cell phones they had, he walked back to the racks to do price checks. He couldn't help but overhear their loudly whispered conversation, though.

"Seto, none of these phones look like yours," Mokuba complained.

"Get a new one then; mine's a year old anyways."

"But I want _your_ phone!"

Seto sighed and held a hand up to his forehead. "Mokuba, are you determined to make this as difficult as possible?"

"Are you sure you don't need any help?" Ryou asked again, his voice in the same loud whisper that they were using.

Seto sent a glare his way before saying, "Fine, since you're determined to bother me…" He took a very sleek, silver cell phone out of his pocket and held it up. "Do you have this?"

Ryou walked over and looked at the device, creasing his eyebrow together. "I don't recognize it –"

"Just like I thought – useless," he said, causing Ryou's eye to twitch out of anger. "Where's the owner of this store?"

"He's out right now," Ryou told him guardedly, crossing his arms.

The older boy swore under his breath and pinched he bridge of his nose. "You have got to be –" he was abruptly cut off when his cell phone started ringing. Sighing, he told his companion, "Keep looking. I need to take this call," before walking out of the store, the _ding_ signaling his departure.

"Glad _he's_ gone," Ryou said under his breath. He looked down at Mokuba when he felt a tugging on his shirt.

"Don't be angry with my brother," he pleaded, frowning, "he's just stressed. I guess I'm not helping any…"

Ryou felt his heart break at how sad Mokuba looked. "… Okay, I'll try to not be so angry," he assured, patting him on the head.

"Can you help me look for a phone like Onii-chan's?"

Ryou smiled. _What a cute kid_, he thought before saying warmly, "Sure."

After a few seconds of looking, however, Mokuba asked, "Do you know who my brother is?"

Ryou shook his head. "No. Should I?"

Mokuba smiled a little. "Does the name "Kaiba" ring a bell?"

He thought about it for a second. The name sparked something in his brain, but he couldn't place where he heard it from. "… Not really, no," he admitted before calling to Bakura, "Hey, does the name "Kaiba" mean anything to you?"

"Isn't that a game company?" Bakura called back tiredly, still behind the cash register. He really could care less about the customers; Ryou was much more equipped to handle people.

"Yes!" Mokuba exclaimed, laughing. "He's Kaiba Seto – the owner of Kaiba Corp."

"What?" Ryou asked, surprised. "But he looks –"

"Your age?"

"Yeah."

"I know, that's why he's so stressed," Mokuba explained, sighing. "He has to do his high school work _and_ his regular work. I rarely get to see him anymore." He smiled at Ryou before adding, "That's kind of why I don't want to leave this store so quickly – as long as we're here I get to spend time with him."

"…" The more Ryou stared into the innocent, smiling face of this young boy, the more he just _had_ to hug him. "You poor thing… can't you have your parents to run the company?"

"We're orphans – and our "guardian" hates us." Mokuba giggled a little before saying, "Although, he hates us because Seto took the company from him but –"

"Mokuba, what are you doing?" the intimidating person in question asked, arms crossed and face set in what Ryou was beginning to suspect was a constant glare.

The twin quickly stopped hugging the small boy and stood up straight as Mokuba tried to explain. "I was just –"

"_Not_ looking for a phone?" Seto took a deep breath before letting it out slowly, sounding much more calm when he did so. "I need to attend a meeting soon, so please, just pick one already."

"You know," Ryou cut in, frowning, "maybe if you actually tried to help him look instead of yelling at him the whole time –"

"Who are you to talk to me like that?" he interrupted with a harsh tone.

"Who are you to talk to _anyone_ like that?" Ryou snapped back. He was fed up with this "Kaiba" person. He was fed up with jerks in general, actually, and this person seemed to sum up everything negative in a personality.

Kaiba narrowed his eyes at the brave boy. "So, you don't know who I am, then?"

"I don't care if you're the owner of Kaiba Corp.," Ryou told him, smiling a little when he saw him scowl more. "To me, you're just a rude jerk. And I bet you don't know who _I_ am."

"You're Bakura Ryou," he answered simply. "Twin sister of Bakura squared. Attending Japarica High as a Freshman. Member of the Girls' Club and straight-A student." He grinned before adding, "And I bet you didn't know that I attend the same school a grade ahead of you."

"… No," Ryou admitted, frowning.

"Sister?" Mokuba asked suddenly, squinting his eyebrows at Ryou. "But I thought… ah, well."

Ryou smiled sheepishly. He hadn't even noticed when Kaiba said "sister of." … That was a bad sign, wasn't it?

"Anyways," Kaiba said, putting his arms behind his back and fixing Ryou with an unemotional look. "You realize that I can have you fired in a matter of seconds, right? And make sure no one else hires you?"

Ryou felt his blood run cold at the threat. He needed this job… their aunt and uncle gave them barely enough money to pay for the necessities; they've only been managing so far by trying not to eat a lot, though they did slip up quite a few times. Not to mention that there was no way they'd pay for cell phones, which Ryou knew would be a huge help so that Bakura wouldn't worry so much or have to wait for him after school all the time.

"… I'm sorry," Ryou finally said, sighing. "Please don't do that…"

Kaiba smirked. "That's more like it. Now bow."

"… What?" Ryou asked, sure that he just hadn't heard him correctly.

"You heard me: bow. Or would you rather beg?"

Ryou raised his eyebrow in an "Are you serious?" look, but all Kaiba did was nod, so he shook his head. "No way."

"Well, I guess Hashime could do with one less customer."

Ryou growled silently to himself just as Mokuba tugged on his brother's shirt. "Onii-chan," he whispered, "let her off easy – she's a girl, after all, and you still have that meeting –"

"Oh, that's right!" Kaiba exclaimed, momentarily showing an emotion other than anger or arrogance. He quickly morphed back into a being of unfeeling cells and started looking for a phone similar to his own.

Ryou stuck his tongue out at Kaiba behind his back and walked over to Mokuba, kneeling down and smiling at him. "Still want my help?"

Mokuba smiled and nodded, whispering, "I'm surprised you still want to after my brother's treatment – he's a little… high-and-mighty."

Ryou giggled and ruffled his hair. "Well, I can forgive him as long as you're nice to me." He stood up straight after that and started searching for a silver phone, Mokuba joining him. The two talked with each other for snippets at a time and giggled quite a lot, which Kaiba found to be quite interesting. _Mokuba seems to have taken a liking to that girl…_ he thought. _Maybe she could be…? Well, I'll just have to see._

"How about this one?" Ryou asked Mokuba for what must have been the millionth time.

He inspected the phone and smiled brightly. "Yatta! It looks just like Seto's phone!"

"Good find," Kaiba complimented, much to Ryou's surprise. He had only met the guy today, but already he could tell he wasn't exactly the type to give out compliments. Especially considering he had been telling him to _bow_ a few short minutes ago.

"Thanks…" Ryou replied suspiciously. "So, I guess I'm not so useless after all?"

"Did I really say that?" Kaiba asked, smiling weakly. Which, to be honest, freaked out Ryou more than his glares. "I'm sorry; you have to understand, I'm just a little stressed today – the company's not doing so well."

"It's not?!" Mokuba asked, frowning. "What's wrong now?"

Kaiba shrugged. "Not a lot of people are into games nowadays – the fools."

"That's a shame," Ryou put in. "I love playing a good game."

"Really?" Kaiba asked, smiling. And this time, Ryou thought it looked sort of authentic… in a fake, I-want-something way. What was this guy up to?

"Yeah, really," Ryou answered anyways, smiling _genuinely_. "Role-playing games are my favorite."

"I like those ones, too!" Mokuba exclaimed, laughing a bit. "Those ones and strategy games!"

Kaiba chuckled a bit. "It's great to see you two have so much in common." His watch beeped then, but he turned it off with a scowl before clapping Mokuba on the back. "Okay, we really have to go now – let's buy your phone and head out."

"Okay!"

The two walked to the counter to be rung up while Ryou just stared after them, shaking his head and thinking, _That Kaiba guy is weird_, before going back to do price-checks. He waved to Mokuba when they left though, smiling at how happy the kid seemed. It was so odd, considering how rude and snarky his brother acted. _Well,_ he thought wistfully, _that was definitely the most _interesting_ sale I've ever had_.

Meanwhile, Mokuba was looking curiously up at his brother outside of the shop. "Onii-chan?" he asked hesitantly.

"Yes?" he asked, looking down.

"Are you planning something?"

"Now, why would you _ever_ think that?"

"You randomly started being nice to that girl…"

Kaiba shrugged. "Sometimes I just feel like being nice."

"… No you don't."

Kaiba just chuckled a bit in response.

"… Well," Mokuba said, smiling mischievously. "If you're still feeling "nice," can we hold hands like when we were younger?"

"…"

"Please?"

Kaiba sighed. "All right. But just because I'm feeling nice."

"Yay! You should be nice more often, Onii-chan!"

* * *

The rest of the night had progressed without too much happening; when they got home they ate dinner and did their homework. Though they _had_ worked on their homework till late in the night, so the next morning they were _exhausted_, especially when walking to Marik's house.

"We shouldn't have so much homework…" Bakura complained as he rubbed his eyes to try and make them feel less heavy. It didn't work.

"Well, the teachers assume we don't work after school," Ryou defended, yawning for the tenth time that morning. He felt tired down to his very core, and the cold air blowing against them as they walked to Marik's house did absolutely nothing to wake them up.

"Ugh, I need a vacation," Bakura muttered right before he tripped and fell on the same unlevel sidewalk spot that Ryou had tripped over earlier in the month.

Ryou giggled. "Looks like _I'm_ not the one who needs to pay attention."

"I'm not getting up," Bakura said stubbornly, curling up into a sleeping position. "I'm so bloody tired – I'll see you after school."

Ryou rolled his eyes and grabbed his arm. "Come on, Bakura, we have to go to school –"

"Ugh, you're so pushy lately!" He stood up and brushed himself up before yawning. "We can't keep this up for much longer."

"Well, we don't work today so we'll go to bed early tonight."

Bakura scoffed. "Watch this be the day we get an impossible amount of homework."

"Oh, don't say that." Ryou patted Bakura on the back before yawning again. They then continued their trudge, wishing that Friday would hurry up and come already.

"You two don't look so good," Marik commented when he saw them.

Ryou sighed. "Yeah, yeah, we know –"

"We don't need your "highly qualified" eyes telling us what we already know," Bakura added sarcastically, rolling his eyes.

Marik just grinned. "Aw, thanks for the eye compliment, 'Kura. Do you like violet eyes?"

"I think it's an unnatural color for eyes to have," he informed him just as Ryou said, "Yeah, they're neat."

Marik turned to Ryou and smiled, a little embarrassed. "Heh, thanks…"

Bakura rolled his eyes and walked forward, being sure to bump Marik's shoulder on his way. "You two coming to school or not?"

"And to think," Ryou said, giggling and following after him, "not two minutes ago he was complaining about going to school."

Marik just sighed and followed after them. As he and Ryou became closer, Bakura's growing irritation was going to become a real problem. He'd have to deal with it someday, but when? And _how_, for that matter. Bakura wasn't a very "talk-it-out" person and he'd rather not physically fight the boy over something so stupid like this, but taking Bakura's personality into play and how protective he is of Ryou that was probably going to be the outcome. Although Ryou _did_ tell him not to get into a lot of trouble this year, didn't he? In which case –

"Hey, Marik," Ryou interrupted his thought process, "do you know Kaiba Seto?"

"Kaiba?" Marik asked, frowning. "Why do you want to know about him?"

"He was in the store where we work at yesterday and I just wanted to know more about him."

"Was he that rude customer that came in?" Bakura asked, raising and eyebrow and smirking. "With the jerky haircut and a trying-too-hard scowl?"

"And the gravity-defying coat?" Marik joined in, grinning.

"And the holier-than-thou attitude?"

"And the stance of a pissed-off mother?"

"And the voice of a hoarse frog?"

"And the adorable little brother that reveres him?" Ryou interrupted the boys' little game, rolling his eyes.

Marik turned to him and frowned a little. "Ah, so you met Mokuba, too."

Ryou nodded and smiled a little. "He's a great kid! But anyways, Kaiba _was_ acting all rude and everything like you guys so _eloquently_ put," he had to hide a smile when the two boys snickered, "but then later he started acting nice to me."

"_Nice?_" Marik asked incredulously. "You've gotta be joking – the day Kaiba Seto is nice is the day I move to Atlantis."

"Aw, but I think you'd look great as a mermaid," Bakura teased.

Marik just ignored him. "Some people even go so far as to say that every time he smiles, a puppy dies."

"Oh, that's just ridiculous," Ryou said, rolling his eyes again.

Marik shrugged. "Well, obviously I don't believe in _that_ rumor. But, to be honest, you should be wary of him. If he _was_ being nice to you, he's probably just trying to get something out of you."

"But what could I possibly give him?" Ryou asked, creasing his eyebrows.

Marik shrugged again. "Beats me – _not a word_," he added to Bakura when he saw him grin.

"What? I wasn't going to say anything," he denied innocently.

Ryou and Marik both said "Right," before looking at each other and smiling. Bakura scowled at the sight and walked between them, not expecting Ryou to grab his hand. "Stop being moody!" he told him.

"_I'm not being moody_."

"One minute you're laughing and the next you're scowling," Ryou told him.

"Yep, sounds moody to me," Marik joined in, snickering.

"Shut it, mermaid boy."

"Oh joy, yet another nickname," he said with mock enthusiasm. "And this one doesn't even make sense! Oh, happy day!"

"Well, I guess princess _does_ suit you better," Bakura told him, smirking. "How about mermaid princess, then? I think that's just _perfect_."

Marik glared at him and Ryou sighed. This was going to be a _long_ day…

* * *

"_**WHAT?!**_" Ryou yelled in the hallway, ceasing everyone's conversations.

"Jeez, keep your voice down," Amora complained, rubbing her ear. "And I thought _I_ was the loud one!"

"I-I'm sorry," Ryou said. "Could you just… repeat that?" He was experiencing a ton of déjà vu as Bakura was covering his mouth and trying his hardest not to laugh again, although this was partly thanks to Marik's reaction of looking extremely awkward again.

"I told you," Amora started, "the Girls' Club decided that we should all have a sleepover this weekend! Isn't that great?"

"… Fantastic…" Ryou mumbled as Amora clapped him on the back.

"Great! We don't have all the details yet, but we'll figure those out today! You're coming, right?"

"Yeah, I don't have work today –"

"Excellent!" Amora pumped her fist in the air as she yelled, "Aaaaah yeah, sleepover in da _house!_" She then walked away, chanting "Sleep! Sleep! Sleep! Sleep!" very loudly as she did so.

Ryou covered his face with his hands, moaning. "What am I going to _do?_"

"Well, _obviously_ you can't go," Bakura told him in between laughter. When he calmed down a bit more he cleared his throat and said with conviction, "I mean, you weren't actually considering it, were you?"

"But if I don't go, they'll think something's up," Ryou said, frowning.

Bakura looked at his brother and raised an eyebrow before leaning in and whispering in his ear, "Ryou, I'm starting to question your sanity if you're thinking even for a _second_ about going."

Ryou bit his lip and looked away, grabbing a lock of his hair and fiddling with it as he stared at the lockers. "Um…"

"_Ryou_," Bakura said in a warning tone, narrowing his eyes.

"If you don't want to go, then just tell them that," Marik cut in, finally figuring he could say _that_ much, considering he knew something he shouldn't. Although perhaps he should have asked why Ryou couldn't go, to really keep up the act? Eh, too late now.

"I don't think they'll take no for an answer," Ryou told them rubbing the back of his head and still avoiding his brother's gaze.

"Oh, my, gosh, _Ryou!_" Bakura scolded, frowning. "This is silly – you're not going. You _can't_ go – that's… It's not… would you really feel comfortable?!"

Ryou leaned in and whispered in his ear. "I'm already changing in their locker room…"

"Yeah, in the _bathroom_," Bakura said, frowning.

"Well…" Ryou hesitated before switching over to English so they could talk in private more. "_What else do you expect me to do, Bakura? You've met Amora – do you really think she'll take any excuse I give her?_"

Bakura shook his head. "_Tell them whatever you need to, then. Tell them you're working, or get sick the night before, or _something_. Ryou, how can you honestly tell yourself that a boy going to a _girl's sleepover party_ is okay?! What would dad say?_"

"_I don't know!-!_" Ryou said, his voice raised only slightly. "_I don't know, okay? Just let me think this over –_"

"_I can't believe this is something you need to _think _about…_"

Ryou bit his lip and sighed. "I know," he finished in Japanese before walking ahead to go into the classroom. "Come on, class starts soon…"

Bakura sighed just before Marik tapped him on the shoulder. He turned to look at the Egyptian, who was looking at him with an odd look. "Is Ryou really going to go to that sleepover?"

"Probably," Bakura told him with a scowl. "For goodness' sakes; maybe he actually _wants_ to be a girl and he's just too embarrassed to tell me!" he theorized out loud, bursting into laughter when he saw Marik grow pale. "What? Does that thought not tickle your fancy, Marik?"

"It's just…" he sighed and held a hand up to his forehead. "Not something I'm very comfortable with…"

Bakura shrugged. "Well, if I have an actual little sister soon I'll adapt. I just hope he'd tell me first."

Marik smiled a little and shook his head. "You're…" he was going to say insane, but as an afterthought he said instead, "… amazing." Bakura gave him a look, so he explained himself. "You're so calm and accepting about all of this gender business, whereas I'm just… still trying to figure it out."

Bakura just kept staring at him, and then he said something that Marik will think over and over and over again for a very long time. "When you really love someone, Marik, you'll understand how I can be okay with such things."

* * *

"I'm so excited!" Anzu announced at the lunch table as she sat down with her tray.

"Why's that?" Yugi asked, slurping up a stray noodle.

"Didn't you hear the teacher?" she asked, smiling at everyone. "We're going to have a new classmate soon!"

"Oh yeah!" Kana-chan exclaimed, smiling.

"Oh great," Jounouchi and Honda said with as much excitement as a sleeping sloth.

"Aren't you excited about getting a new student?" Amora asked, her eyes as wide as saucers. "Think of all the possible personas he or she could be!"

"Oh please," Jounouchi scoffed, "you girls want one thing and one thing only from new kids – more girls for your club."

"Why are you guys always so desperate for members?" Bakura asked, the side of his head laying comfortably on top of his arms and the table.

"Because –!" Amora started, but Anai finished with, "We just are…"

The table goes silent for a little bit before Anzu looks at Bakura and smiles sheepishly. "Aha, maybe you'll find out later…"

"Bakura's right," Atem spoke up. "Be happy with the members you already have."

"We are!" Amora assured.

"It's just… we want more girls to benefit from our safe environment," Anzu tried to explain to him. "With all of the teenage pressures and changes and blah blah blah –"

"Tell me about it," Otogi interrupted drably.

" – our club is like a safe haven from all of that nonsense."

"It _is_ a very nice atmosphere," Ryou commented, smiling.

"Thank you, Ryou-chan," Anzu said, smiling at "her."

"Yep," Amora input, nodding her head. "Although, sometimes I feel like I don't know these girls very well, so that's why this sleepover's gonna be a great! It's a perfect bonding opportunity!"

Bakura looked over at Ryou who just so happened to look outside the window at that exact moment.

Marik, looking over at Ryou and biting his lip, decided to try and help "her" situation. "Sleepover's are so overrated though," he said. "Why not do something else? Like ice-skating?"

"Do not doubt the sacredness of a sleepover, Marik!" Amora told him, standing up and pointing at him. "Mark my words, girls never become closer than they do at a sleepover!"

"Even b-bitter enemies can become fr-friends during one," Anai put in, nodding her head once.

"Oh please," Honda said as he shook his head. "I highly doubt –"

"Are we talking about sleepovers?" Miho asked as she walked up to the table. "Miho _loves_ sleepover!"

"Ah, so do I!" Honda conveniently changed his mind once he heard Miho's view on the subject at hand.

"Can we change the subject?" Atem asked, "I'm getting a little tired of hearing about girls' sleepovers."

"Yeah, it's getting annoying," Otogi agreed.

"Probably because he's spied on many," Bakura mumbled, taking mirth in the fact that he angered the boy enough to make him glare at him.

"Oh, come on, guys!" Amora exclaimed, pouting. "What do boys do during sleepovers that completely turn themselves off of the idea?"

"It's just the same as hanging out to us," Jounouchi said, shrugging.

"It's really not a big deal," Otogi added, still glaring at Bakura.

"Yes it is!-!" Amora insisted.

"Yeah," Kana-chan joined in. "When someone sleeps over, they show you their pajamas, sleeping habits, and nighttime rituals – it's a very personal experience, and when you share it with someone that means you trust them."

"… I think you're going _waaay_ overboard with this sleepover thing," Jounouchi deadpanned, shaking his head.

"I have to agree," Ryou cut in, swallowing when he saw the looks the girls gave him. "I mean, I've been to sleepovers before and they haven't been "all that.""

"Oh, honey," Kana-chan said pitifully.

"You _have_ to come to the sleepover now!" Amora insisted, looking at "her" as if she was some underprivileged child. "We'll show you the true magic of sleepovers!"

_Dang it_, Ryou thought to himself disconsolately. _I had been hoping to get _out_ of it by saying that…_ "Well, the thing is, I don't really think I _can_ go –"

"Look, girl," Amora started, "I don't care _what_ you're doing, I will _drag you there myself_ if I have to. So you might as well go out of your own free will."

"Yeah!" Miho encouraged. "Come on Ryou-chan, even Anai-chan is going!"

Bakura creased his eyebrows together and lifted his head up. "Why is that an angle to get her to go?"

Everyone was silent again as they shyest girl of all could only stare at her shoes, her eyes shut tight. "B-because, um… I d-don't usually go to… sl-sleepovers."

"… Right," Anzu said before clapping her hands. "Hey, why don't you guys have a sleepover soon, too?"

All of the male students at the Friendship Table stared at her like she was speaking a different language.

"What?" she asked, looking at all of them.

"It's not really our thing…" Yugi told her, rubbing the back of his head.

"Plus, it'd be a little awkward…" Otogi mentioned as he stared at the table.

"It wouldn't be _that_ awkward, would it?"

"Do you want me to do the math for you?"

"Two gay guys, one questioning, two with girlfriends, and two who're forever alone…" Bakura counted, grinning. "Actually, a sleepover with that group sounds pretty fun."

"See? Bakura thinks you should have one!" Amora pleaded her case.

"Wait, _who's_ forever alone?!" Honda and Atem asked in unison.

"I thought you were bi?" Marik asked Bakura, raising an eyebrow.

"Does it matter?"

"_The point is_," Amora raised her voice so everyone would hear, "you guys should get some male bonding time!"

"Thanks, but no thanks, sister," Jounouchi told her, crossing his arms.

Amora growled, but then the bell rang so she couldn't try and convince them anymore.

"You know, Amora has a point," Ryou said to Bakura as everyone started cleaning up. "I think a sleepover would be good for you, Bakura."

"And I think a sleepover would_ not_ be good for you, Ryou," Bakura reminded him. "Yet, we're both not going to listen to the other, are we?"

"Look, I'll try to get out of it!" Ryou hissed at him. "But you heard Amora just now, didn't you? She'll _drag me there_."

Bakura shrugged. "Well, whatever you think is best. I guess I can't really stop you from going, can I?" Ryou was surprised by his brother's response, but then the delinquent continued, "Well, I mean, I _could_, but locking people up in the basement isn't the right answer for everything."

Ryou just laughed and patted him on the back. "Good old Bakura, that's why I love you."

Bakura grinned and ruffled his twin's hair. "Yeah yeah, whatever."

* * *

There was a certain feeling of dread as Ryou changed out of his gym clothes that evening. All throughout playing badminton he was trying to come up with ways to get out of this sleepover. Of course the simplest solution would've been to "come clean" and reveal his true identity, but that option did not appeal to him in the slightest when he saw how hard Amora spiked that poor little birdie… Although, they were pretty close friends, maybe she _wouldn't_ send him to the emergency room? Maybe this would be the perfect opportunity to clear up the confusion and tell everybody once and for all that he's actually a boy! And then he could live a normal life without constant fear and guilt! Yes! This would be great!

Of course, then he remembered that it wasn't just the _Girls' Club_ that thought he was a girl… it was the _entire school_, and that served a bigger issue.

Even if the Girls' Club _was_ totally cool with him pretending to be a girl after listening to his explanation (which he highly doubted), there was no way that the whole school would let him live this down… He would probably get bullied every day, not to mention that this is the type of thing that people wouldn't forget so easily, so it'll probably follow him throughout his entire high school years. And what about the teachers? He's heard about teachers failing somebody simply because they didn't like them, or they did something that upset the teacher. What if some of his teachers failed him? Even if he totally deserved to pass?

… This secret was going to be something he had to keep up forever, isn't it?

By the end of the gym period he was still as clueless on how to get out of this sleepover as ever, and now he had to go to the Girls' meeting and discuss all of the exciting activities they were going to do during it. Pip-pip-cheerio, and all that rot.

He pushed open the restroom door and joined the already-forming circle in the middle of the locker room, taking a deep breath and mentally preparing himself for all of the girl talk he was going to have to listen to.

"Okay, girls!" Anzu called to order when everyone was present. "Yesterday we mentioned a sleepover towards the end, so that's our first matter of discussion. Yes, Mandai-chan?" she called when she saw the blonde girl's hand go up.

"We can have the sleepover at my house," she said in a monotone. "I asked my parents yesterday and they were fine with it."

Slight cheering and high-fiving was heard among the group until one girl asked, "Is your house big enough for all of us?"

Mandai nodded. "Yeah, it's big enough for all you guys."

"You must live in a mansion!"

"Well –"

"Hey, hey, hey!" Anzu interrupted, pointing at the girl who asked the mansion question. "Remember our rules! No asking about a girl's social status – if she wants to tell that's fine, but no asking!"

"Right, sorry," she apologized, bowing slightly to Mandai.

"It's fine."

"Now," Anzu transitioned, looking at each girl. "When would be a good week to hold this?" Everyone started shouting at once so Anzu said, "Oy! Be quiet! I'll list weekends and you guys can raise your hand for the days you want!" She waited until the locker room was silent before continuing on with the meeting. Eventually, it was decided that the weekend after this one would be the perfect time to host it, since that was when most of the girls wanted to have it.

"Oh!" Amora yelled right before her hand went up. Before Anzu even had a chance to acknowledge her, she said, "I was thinking – we should go to the beach the next day!"

"Ooh! Miho loves the beach!" Miho agreed, nodding vigorously.

"I don't live too far from the beach," Mandai mentioned. "It's within walking distance."

"All in favor of going to the beach?" Anzu announced, covering her ears just in time to not become deaf from all of the girls shouting, "I!" All except Ryou, of course, who had just realized that the beach meant swimsuits. And the difference between a boy's swimsuit and a girl's was… well, very noticeable.

"I can't wait to show you all this cute bikini I have!" one girl said excitedly.

"I bet mine's cuter!"

"Mine's such a cool shade of blue!"

"Red is _my_ color."

"I think I outgrew my pair from last year…"

"I wonder if any cute guys will be there?"

"Amora, will you actually be a girl and wear a bikini this time around?"

"Yuck! Ack! Ick!" Amora exclaimed as she pretended to gag. "The dreaded "b" word. No way!"

Ryou started to laugh as the same girl rolled her eyes and said, "Aw, come on! You _have_ to wear a bikini this time –"

"PEER PRESSURE!" Amora yelled at the top of her lungs as she stood on top of the bench and pointed at her. "PEER PRESSURE! PEER PRESSURE!"

"AMORA!" Anzu yelled to get her to stop yelling.

"What? I hate peer pressure!"

Some of the girls started to snicker, and Ryou joined them as he realized that Amora was an accomplice to peer pressure herself. What with all her matchmaking, and today telling Ryou to come to the sleepover or else she'd drag "her" there. _She probably doesn't even think of it like that_, Ryou thought to himself as he looked at the hyper girl.

"Well," Mai said, who was leaning against one of the walls with her arms crossed like always, "I have to say that this type of peer pressure is a _little_ positive."

"Of course _you'd_ say that, Mai-san," Amora replied, rolling her eyes.

"And just what is _that_ supposed to mean?!"

"Neh, Ryou-chan," one girl whispered to Ryou as Amora and Mai started to duke it out.

"Yeah?"

"You should wear a bikini too!" she said with an encouraging smile.

"…" Ryou laughed nervously as his face started to heat up. "Um… Yeah, I don't think –"

"You'd look so cute!" another girl joined in.

"I don't really feel comfortable –"

"You should wear a black one!"

"It'd _totally_ bring out your skin – you pale little thing."

"… Like I was saying –"

"Oh, duh!" one of the girls slapped her forehead. "Black's too sexy for you, huh?"

"Yeah, I can't really see you as one of those "show-offy" girls."

"I don't want to wear one!" Ryou finally managed to say. Unfortunately, he had said this just a _liiiiittle_ too loud, and had earned the attention of a few others.

"Oh no," one girl muttered. Ryou looked at her, wondering why she had said that, but he soon realized why.

"Yes!" Amora cheered, grinning at Ryou. "My fellow pancake will join me in the bikini boycott!"

Ryou laughed a little bit before nodding. "Yep!"

"High five!"

"Can I join t-too?" Anai asked, smiling a little as she was sure she probably didn't even have to ask.

"What is wrong with you girls?!" one exclaimed as she pulled on the ends of her hair.

"Okay!" Anzu said, clapping her hands together once. "Enough bikini talk! Next topic!"

* * *

Bakura and Ryou were walking home from school after the Girls' Meeting, and Ryou was pleased to hear that Bakura had gotten all of his homework done while Ryou was talking with the girls. He was especially happy when Bakura offered to help him with his own homework so that they could hang out a little tonight; "We haven't really gotten to, you know," he mentioned.

Ryou smiled and linked their arms up. "Yeah, it'll be fun! What should we do?"

"I was thinking a movie," Bakura said, tilting his head slightly to the side. "Or we could play a board game or something."

"Let's do both!"

Bakura chuckled a bit. "Sounds like a plan. Hey, did you ever think of a way out of that sleepover?"

Ryou sighed. "I think I'm just gonna go… why the hell not?"

Bakura stopped walking and stared at Ryou with wide eyes. "I'm sorry… did you just say "why the hell not"?"

"… Yeah," he said, blinking, "I guess I did…"

They stared at each other for a while, but then Bakura smirked. "Geez, those girls have changed you, haven't they?"

"Shut up!" his brother pushed him a little, laughing. "Well, the way I figure it is I've already made it this far, might as well go all the way. What's the worst that could happen, anyways?"

Bakura shrugged. "Well, when you put it like that…" he laughed before adding, "Actually, I have to admit, it almost seems natural for you to go."

"Oh joy," Ryou giggled a bit before twiddling his fingers. "Oh, and, um… we're going to the beach the day afterwards."

"Great! You love the beach."

"… The girls want me to wear a bikini."

". . ."

"Bakura?! Are you okay?-? Your nose is bleeding!-!"

"I'm… fine… I'm _fine_," he tried to assure as he covered his nose and closed his eyes. _Bad thoughts. BAD THOUGHTS_, he thought to himself as he tried to think of _anything_ other than his baby brother in a… a…

"But luckily Amora's doing a bikini boycott, so I won't have to," Ryou said as an afterthought, creasing his eyebrows at his brother.

Bakura took a deep breath and looked at his twin, his hand still clamped tightly around his nose. "But, Ryou, even then you'd have to wear a _girl's_ swimsuit…"

"Not necessarily," Ryou said, his eyes twinkling a bit. "I was thinking – I could just wear regular swimming trunks and a T-shirt and simply say I'm shy about my body. Which, when I think of it, is actually kind of true…"

Bakura stared at him for a bit before grinning and hugging him. "I'm so proud of you – you're turning into a deceitful little delinquent just like me."

Ryou laughed and shook his head, hugging him back nonetheless. "Oh, why thank you, that means so much coming from you."

"It better!" Bakura chuckled a bit. "Hey, you wanna help me steal something later?"

"Don't push your luck, 'Kura."

"Worth a shot."

"By the way, Bakura?" Ryou asked, looking him straight in the eyes. "I want you to have a sleepover too, okay? I think you need it."

Bakura groaned. "Do I _have_ to?"

"You don't have to invite a lot of people," Ryou conditioned, rolling his eyes. "Just invite one if you want. Why not Marik?"

"Do you _want_ to keep up the rumors going around school?"

"Those died down a long time ago."

"And they'll pick up again if I invite him for a "_sleepover_.""

"Come on, just have one!" Ryou pouted. "For me?"

Bakura crossed his arms and glared. _Unfair tactics? Why do you want this so badly?_ "Ugh, fine…"

"Great!" Ryou beamed. "Just promise me you won't bit him this time."

""Promise me you won't bite him this time,"" Bakura repeated with a mocking edge, "oh, give me a break!"

"How about you give Marik one instead?"

Bakura had to laugh at that response. "Well-played, Ryou, well-played."

Ryou just stuck his tongue out playfully before running ahead, calling behind him, "Hurry up! I wanna get my homework done so we can play!"

Bakura grinned and ran after him. "On my way!" He was glad to see that Ryou actually still _wanted_ to hang out with him; he was afraid that Ryou was slowly drifting away… but it seemed it was just his paranoid mind again. _Thank goodness_, he thought as he stared at Ryou's retreating, laughing, beautiful figure. He couldn't help the joyful smile that came to his own lips, or the uncharacteristically high laugh that escaped his throat.

* * *

**This chapter's really dialogue heavy, no? And it's simply because there's so many freaking characters!-! I remember now why I hate having so… many… characters *head spin* I hope you liked it nonetheless though! (And didn't find it annoying – whatwhosaidthat?) I had some writer's block through some parts (the beginning especially) which is another reason why this took so long -_-" I don't really know how to fix what I don't like though…**

**But, anyways, who's excited for Kaiba's appearance? I know **_**I **_**am~! *evil face* This is my first time writing him and Mokuba, so any constructive criticism would me most appreciated! And any other tips you may have for me would me much obliged as well. **

**DON'T FORGET TO SPAM ANIME-ON-REPLAY'S INBOX WITH HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY MESSAGES. PLEASE? She's an amazing, nice, funny person who **_**totally**_** deserves it! I swear on my life and writing ability!-! **

**~~~{REVIEW REPLIES}~~~ **

**xXFlorence4everXx**: Why, thank you, good reader! =) I'm glad you love the story~ I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well ^^ Heehee, you're rooting for Marik and Ryou, eh? Keep it up! *laughs*  
Do you really like Bakura's Ryou imitation? Haha, I'll have to slip that in sometimes then, just for you ;) (No problem, you did great with spelling =) I'm sorry I didn't update soon though TT_TT).

**ThiefshipperFTW**: Thiefshipping and deathshipping? Hmmm, well, considering your username I guess I can see why you would want that XD *giggles* But there's no "guarantee"~ I have a lot of plans for this story~  
Geez, crazed fangirl? Psh, I totally haven't met/been one of _those_ before… *shifty eyes*  
I'm glad you love my thiefshipping though, as that is one of my favorite pairings as well =3 (as if that wasn't obvious XP). I also cannot wait for Yami Marik to arrive! However, that's a far way off… *coughs*  
I'm sorry I haven't updated in such a long time TT_TT Uuuuugh, LIFE, WHY YOU IN WAY?! *growls in life's direction* I'm glad you love the story though – I hope you liked this chapter too! =)

**MadRayTer**: (For chapter 3): *laughs* Geez, so many people want Thiefshipping XD And really? You want some psychoshipping too? NO PROBLEM. (Psychoshipping amused me so much you have no idea fdaofdi XDDD It's just so funny!)  
(For chapter 4): Oh, really? O.o Huh, yeah, I just thought it would be great for Bakura to see that Marik feels just a little protective of Ryou too, already. *chuckles* Thanks for the compliment =)

**Neko**: (For chapter 7): Oh, don't sweat it! At least you're reviewing now =) I'm just happy you like this story as well as A Vampire Story (which I _am_ working on updating too – NO ONE ASK ME ABOUT IT, OKAY?! I ALREADY FEEL GUILTY ENOUGH AS IT IS).  
I'm happy to hear I am one of your favorite authors, though!-! =3 Makes me happy to hear~ (And that's okay – I don't know who you are either but I already want you to have a happy life ^^ and EVERYONE'S WEIRD – YAAAAAYYYY!-!-!)  
(For chapter 9): Haha, yeah, that she does… I'm glad people are picking up on that, especially since I tried to make it obvious XDD  
(For chapter 11): Ikr?! Oh Ryou, honey, you need to control your anger XD Haha, and yeah, Kaiba makes an appearance in _this_ chapter XD Haha, just wait until Amora finds out that Ryou forgot her warning about him!-!  
… I'm terribly sorry I made you wait so long for an update… but, um, life? *shot*  
Thank you for your reviews ^^

… **It feels, weird, to update again… I think I've forgotten what getting a review is like… ._.**

**Well, until next time, my lovely readers! *disappears in a puff of smoke* **


	13. Only Half of an Oreo

**Instead of studying for my finals, I decided to finish this! So I hope you enjoy it =) **

**Oh, and could you guys give me title suggestions after you finish reading this? I like the current one, but… I feel like it could be improved. Feel free to be as silly and creative as you want! **

* * *

Chapter 13: Only Half of an Oreo

Ryou blew some hair out of his face as he and Bakura walked to school that Wednesday morning, the cool air slowly waking him up as he traveled. Though it seemed to be doing the complete opposite for Bakura, who could barely keep his eyes open. "Ugh, I hate walking so early in the morning," he commented dryly.

"Well, when we finally learn to drive we could drive instead," Ryou said, smiling lightly at him. "You'd like that, huh?"

Bakura scoffed. "Please, I'd probably fall asleep at the wheel. And do you really think our dearest aunt and uncle are going to pay for a car? Even if it's a broken-down piece of junk? As if."

Ryou sighed, knowing Bakura was probably right. "Well, it's nice to think about, isn't it?"

"No," Bakura said, shaking his head. "Honestly, I don't want to drive. I don't trust those machines."

Ryou furrowed his brow but just kept walking, knowing that there was really no use in even trying to understand some of Bakura's prejudices. He couldn't stop thinking about driving now, though. What would they tell their friends when they all started learning how to drive and he and Bakura weren't? If they told them the truth, then everyone would know about their parents and they'd be "the pitied twins," just like at their old school, and they did _not_ want that. And, if teachers got a hold of their situation, they'd "reassign" them to more "fitting" caregivers. Ones who would actually live with them in their house and guide them. And, while that _sort_ of sounded nice, the truth was… they just didn't want some random adults pretending to be their mom and dad. They have a mom and dad, and while they may not be present anymore, they still raised them right; heck, they were responsible enough to be able to live on their own, get semi-good grades at school, and maintain an after-school job. Frankly, they didn't _need_ caregivers.

… Well, if their parents were still alive they wouldn't say that…

Ryou sighed to himself. Who was he kidding? He missed his mom and dad – _both_ of them did! They could keep up this front of not needing parents all they wanted, but the truth of the matter was that most nights they would give anything to have their parents walk in, kiss them on the forehead, and say, "Goodnight, son. I love you," like they used to…

_Great, now I'm all depressed_, Ryou thought to himself, frowning. He looked up at Bakura, noticing a similar sad look in his brother's eyes. _Looks like we're on the same page, as always…_

Without even asking, Bakura sighed and put his arm around Ryou's shoulders. "I miss them too, Ryou… but they wouldn't want us to be sad."

"That's what everyone always says when someone dies," Ryou choked out.

Bakura frowned at him. "I know… but it is true, isn't it?"

"I just miss the "I love you"s," Ryou said quietly. "And their smiles…"

Bakura bit his lip, a pit forming in his stomach. "Me too," he admitted. He glanced at his brother before kissing him on the forehead and mumbling, "I love you, Ryou."

Ryou smiled weakly at him and returned the gesture before replying, "I love you, too, Bakura."

It was in this sorrowful, close state that they arrived at Marik's house, and the smart Egyptian wisely decided not to ask or even comment on their mood. Instead, he simply raised his hand in a silent greeting, judging from the look on their faces that they probably didn't want to talk right now.

You can imagine his surprise, then, when Bakura spread his other arm open and stated, "We're mourning the loss of our parents. Wanna join?"

"Bakura!-!" Ryou hissed incredulously, staring at him with wide eyes. He couldn't believe Bakura had just told him that! He was the one who had hated being pitied the most!

"Relax, Ryou – it's fine," was all Bakura gave him in the way of an explanation.

Marik just blinked at them both for a second, glancing at Ryou who was staring avidly at the ground. "Um…"

"Come on," Bakura almost whined. _Almost_. "You told me you lost your mom."

From the look on Ryou's face, he could tell that this was the first time he had heard this news. Marik smiled weakly a bit, slightly regretting not telling Ryou, yet also feeling grateful that Bakura hadn't told anyone. Not even his brother, who he seemed to love more than anything. "Yeah, but," he started, pausing a bit, "I never really even knew her –"

"That's even sadder," the twins replied in unison.

Marik stared at them for a little longer before solemnly walking next to them. He was… touched, that they would want to share what seemed like such a personal moment with him, especially since he couldn't really relate to what they'd been through. Well, not exactly, anyways… Like he said, he never really knew his mother; he's only heard stories. It was kind of hard to mourn someone you never really knew. He supposed he could mourn the "loss" of his father, technically, since he was never around, but… he kind of hated him, so even then he wasn't really on the same page.

As he stood in front of them, wondering which side he should take, Ryou giggled lightly and said, "You should be in the middle – we can make a backwards Oreo."

Bakura started laughing at that, lightening the mood considerably. "Oh my gosh, do you remember when –?"

"And all of the kids started –?" Ryou continued, grinning a little.

"And then the teachers were like, "What kind of game is this?!"" Bakura finished, laughing hysterically.

"Do I even want to know what you two are talking about?" Marik asked, not being able to contain the smile on his face.

"Yes!" Bakura shouted at the same time Ryou yelled, "No!"

"Oh gosh," Ryou added, blushing slightly and covering his face. "It was so embarrassing!-!"

"It was hilarious!"

"I still can't believe I was a part of it!"

"What are you two talking about?!" Marik interrupted, looking between both of them.

Bakura smirked at Ryou and said, "Should we reenact the Oreo sequence one more time for him?"

"But," Ryou said, giggling like mad, "it was usually reserved for girls…"

"I don't think he'd mind terribly," Bakura said, winking.

"Okay, seriously, what are you two –?" he quickly shut up when they each hooked one of their arms in his and _cuddled_ against him. "What the –?!" he muttered, blushing a bit, wondering what the hell they were doing.

"Twice the sweet," Ryou whispered directly in his ear, not helping his blush _at all_.

"And twice the flavor," Bakura continued in the same fashion, only he sounded more seductive than sweet, which – and Marik's ashamed to admit this – made him shiver slightly.

"Just the type of taste to savor!" they both said happily before kissing Marik's cheeks at the same time.

". . ." the poor boy stuck in the middle was horribly flustered after such a display; his face was incredibly red and he could actually hear his heartbeat in his ears. The fact that both of them were now laughing at him did not help in the least.

"I t-told you he wouldn't m-mind!" Bakura managed to say between laughs.

"S-sorry, Marik!" Ryou said, covering his stomach from laughing so much.

Marik just stared at them for a bit before holding a hand up to either side of his recently-warmed face. "What the hell was that?!" he asked. He didn't even want to _try_ and figure out if he was blushing because of Ryou, Bakura, or possibly both…

"It's all thanks to Bakura," Ryou said, laughing and pushing him lightly. "You just _had_ to take your Oreos apart and kiss the middle before eating it, didn't you?"

Bakura laughed. "Hey, you copied me!" he said, pushing him lightly back. "And then the other kids said that we were like two sides of an Oreo, and we made up that rhyme. And then we – okay, _I_," he corrected when Ryou raised an eyebrow at him, "grabbed the nearest girl, and… Ryou just kind of followed my lead."

"… You two are devilish," Marik mumbled, though he doubted that they had heard him. He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down a bit before showing up at school. However, as soon as he put his hands down, they kissed his cheeks again.

"And another kiss for the lovely miss!" they rhymed, though Ryou cracked up in the middle of it once he realized he'd be calling Marik a "miss."

"There's just something about having both twins' attentions that drives the ladies mad," Bakura commented, laughing. "And even some men, apparently," he added, winking at Marik, who was blushing like mad again.

"I hate both of you right now…" Marik told them as his eye twitched. But, secretly, he _really _wanted them to do that again…

* * *

As Ryou and his two companions traveled to school, things seemed pretty calm (much to his pleasure). Unfortunately, his thoughts did not match the supposed calmness at all.

He couldn't stop thinking about how casually Bakura had invited Marik to join them in their little sorrow party. It was so peculiar! And here Bakura was still trying to convince himself that Marik wasn't a friend, when it was obvious he must trust him, seeing as he told him something as personal as _that_. Don't get him wrong, though – he was kind of mad at Bakura for telling him such a huge thing about their lives without even _mentioning_ it to him first. Though, Bakura seemed to be doing that a _lot_ lately – telling people things without telling him first. Why had he started this habit? Unless… had he _always_ told people such personal things about their life, and he just never found out about it?!

No… that couldn't be right. Bakura didn't trust people; he didn't tell them anything unless he felt like they needed to know it, or he owed them an explanation. So maybe that just showed how much he _did_ trust Marik… He briefly wondered if the Egyptian knew about this great trust that was placed upon him before his brain brought something else up: Maybe the reason Bakura was telling Marik all of these things was because they just… clicked. Bakura had never really felt that with a friend before, so maybe he's completely overwhelmed by the strong feeling of trust and just plain _clicking_ that he's starting to open up more. If that was the case, then Ryou was _extremely_ happy for his brother! Though he had a hunch that it would take quite a while for Bakura to realize just what he was feeling… Though, should he really expect anything different?

Anyways, he then started to think about Marik, and how Bakura had so casually mentioned the passing of his mother… _How had he known that?_ he couldn't help but wonder. _When had they exchanged this information? Did Bakura tell him first, or vice versa? Why didn't I know… I thought me and Marik were good friends, too._

Ryou mentally shook his head and sighed, telling himself that he was being ridiculous and that he shouldn't be upset over this. After all, why should he be bothered if Marik might have a closer relationship with Bakura rather than him? It shouldn't matter, especially since Bakura rarely had any "friends" at all. Really, he should be happy about this whole situation.

… But, he wasn't.

He could kind of understand where Bakura was coming from; feeling like your brother was moving away from you and towards someone else. Was this how Bakura felt when he had gotten a girlfriend? It was probably worse, though, since he had started spending most of his free time with her instead of Bakura like he used to. He didn't want to lose Bakura… this wasn't fair! He wanted his life to stay the same – him and Bakura, side-by-side, dealing with life and all of its problems _together_. …Well, obviously Bakura handled more of the difficulties, but that was because he tried his hardest to keep Ryou away from them.

He glanced at Marik and Bakura then, who were simply walking along with tired, glazed looks in their eyes, and suddenly realized that he wanted _both_ of them in his life. Maybe forever, maybe only for a little while, but the fact still remained that he wanted, maybe even _needed_ them. Bakura was the only family he had left, and Marik was just… _Marik_. He was understanding, kind, and friendly yet mischievous, sarcastic, and a smart-aleck. Doesn't that sound like a wonderful person to have in your life?

_I wish Marik was a brother, too_, Ryou thought to himself, _then at least there would be no fear of losing him_. But even as he thought this, a little voice whispered in the back of his head:

"_If he was a brother, you also wouldn't have any chance of becoming closer_."

_Oh, pish-posh. Bakura and I are plenty close for brothers. _

"_Maybe even too close?" _

_Okay, now I'm just being ridiculous_.

He blew more hair out of his face as he came back to the real world, looking over to Marik and Bakura again. They were still just walking along, not talking, not sharing a look, not sharing a laugh or _anything_. They looked like zombies, just walking like that. Somehow, their unemotional air agitated Ryou, so he asked, "Does our school sell Oreos?"

Obviously the question was meant for Marik since he'd been there longer, but that didn't stop Bakura from laughing and exclaiming, "I sure hope so! That'd be great!"

Marik thought for a minute before shrugging. "I'm not really sure, to be honest. I don't really like overly sweet things."

Bakura smirked and raised an eyebrow at Marik who blushed slightly from the look. "_Shut. Up._" He hissed, for he was certain that the ever-irritating Bakura was referencing his "crush" for the ever-sweet Ryou.

"What? I didn't say a word!"

Ryou smiled at the two as they exchanged dialogue and comebacks, feeling more at ease now. It vaguely came to him that it was a little odd for _this_ to be considered normal for him, but normal is really just a relative term anyways, so he didn't mind terribly.

* * *

At school, Pegasus was in complete meltdown mode as he scolded one of the students as both principal _and_ counselor – two very different roles, he might add, when dealing with punishment and what's important to be yelled at for. In example, a principal would yell at a student for more of the physical attributes; telling him about all the consequences of his actions, and how he had better straighten up or face expulsion. Whereas a counselor, on the other hand, would indeed yell at him for whatever act he had committed, but then try and ask questions about his well-being and try and find out what had driven him to this act in the first place in an attempt to help him better himself.

Although, for this particular student he was just a little more than fed up with his insubordination. Not to mention that he was barely scraping by with only six hours of sleep every night and he was starting to get bags and worry-lines from all of the work he now had to do. Who knew a principal did so much?

With all of this knowledge barraging on his nerves, you can understand why he was a little… "less than fabulous," as he talked with one of his most outstanding yet arrogant students.

"This is the tenth time you've skipped this month!" he yelled, slamming his hands on the desk and glaring at the tall boy. "I've tried to be understanding and even a little lenient, but this is too much, Kaiba!"

The teenage corporation owner stared listlessly at the counselor, blinking lazily before yawning. "Is that all you've called me in here to say?"

Pegasus gave out a long, weary sigh before collapsing back into his chair and putting a hand to his now-throbbing head. "What is your excuse _this_ time?"

"Same as always – business meetings."

"Can't you schedule them for after three-o-clock?"

"These people have lives, you know."

"And you have _school_, you know!"

"Tell me again why I need to go to school?" Kaiba asked, raising an eyebrow. "I already know everything they're teaching me and I own a company – I think I'm set for life."

"Look, you're sixteen and the _law_ states that you have to go to school!"

"Can't you just mark me down as homeschooled so I never have to come to this pathetic little building again?"

Pegasus' eye started twitching at this point. "Can you just do us both a favor and attend school? Please?"

"But if I don't, you'll expel me and that sounds much quainter."

"Oh?" Pegasus asked, narrowing his eyes. "And what kind of example is _that_ setting for your brother?"

"…" Kaiba was silent after that comment, though soon he scowled. "Look, we both know what this is about," he said with a hushed tone as he leaned forward. "You want to run my company – you realize that card games just aren't cutting it anymore, so you want to get into the digital era. Well, you can keep dreaming, because it's _not happening_."

"Oh, for Pete's sake, Kaiba!" Pegasus said incredulously, "_I_ don't even run my company by myself! If I did, do you really think I'd be able to spend my days at this school as a counselor? No, I put others in charge and have them report back to me. I want you to get something like that!"

"Well, I guess I'm just more organized than you since I _can_ run the company by myself _and_ attend this useless school. Most of the time, anyways."

"And, pray tell, how many hours of sleep do you get a night?"

"Sleep is for the weak."

Pegasus scoffed a little before inspecting his nails. "I wonder what child services would have to say upon hearing of a teenager who works long hours every day," he commented offhandedly, glancing at him afterwards. "We made a deal a long time ago, Kaiba, that I wouldn't inform anyone important of your age as long as you attended school. Why are you breaking it now?"

Kaiba stared at him for a long while, and it was then that Pegasus' counseling skills kicked in again. "Come on," he said gently, "you can tell me. What's wrong?"

Kaiba let out a sigh and sat back, crossing his arms and staring down at the floor. "… It's Mokuba," he finally admitted. "He's gotten a lot more rebellious lately and managed to scare off every sitter in the book. He's also been very clingy, and it's annoying when I'm so busy all the time." He looked at Pegasus with a heated glare. "So, yes, I skip school to attend meetings so that I can spend time with my neglected brother after school. Is that so wrong?"

Pegasus stared at him for a second before sighing. "Kaiba… you're not going to like what I have to say, but –"

"I can handle the company by myself!" Kaiba yelled, slamming his own hands on the desk now. "I don't need any help!"

"You're sixteen-years-old!" Pegasus exploded right back, "and you don't have any friends or free time! It's not normal for this day and age, _young_ man, to be so busy all the time at your age! Would you just admit already that you need help so that you can focus more on your education and spend more time with your brother?"

"To me, the solution seems simple," Kaiba told him, standing up and crossing his arms. "If I didn't have school, I'd have plenty of time for anything and everything that I wanted to do."

Pegasus' eye started to twitch again. He didn't appreciate looking up at Kaiba, so he stood up as well and stared directly into his cold, brown eyes. "Do you want to know the reason I'm making you attend school, Kaiba?" he asked quietly, though it was obvious he didn't expect an answer. "Because you're like Ebenezer Scrooge."

"Who?"

"Ebenezer Scrooge!" Pegasus screamed. "When you're old and gray and dying, you're going to wonder why only your little brother seems to care about you. I'm trying to prevent that!" The older man straightened his posture and calmed himself down a little before continuing, "I know you don't believe it, Kaiba, but friends are very important for a person's well-being –"

"Bullshit," Kaiba interrupted with the wave of his hand. "I'm doing fine without "friends," just like a lot of other people in history. And where are _your_ friends, anyways?"

"Well, my best friend died quite recently, actually," Pegasus informed him, "thanks for asking. And I _do_ spend time with a few others."

Kaiba shrugged. "Sorry for your loss," he said as if he couldn't care less, "but I'll be going now."

"_Sit back down!_" Pegasus ordered. "You're not going _anywhere,_ yet!"

"Look, since you're so adamant about this," Kaiba started with a roll of his eyes, "I'll have you know that I have my eye on a new sitter for Mokuba, so that might relieve some of my time."

"Who's the sitter?"

"She goes here. Bakura Ryou?"

Pegasus was silent. "… Ryou?" he echoed before hiding a grin. "Ah, I know her. Wonderful student. Great babysitting choice."

"Don't tell me what I already know."

And with that final word, Kaiba left the principal's office. Pegasus watched him leave, now smiling openly. "Ah," he breathed out in relief, leaning back and placing his hands behind his head. "Thank _heavens_ that those twins are in my school!"

* * *

Nothing out of the ordinary was happening when Ryou arrived at school that morning. Yugi and Atem were playing their favorite card game, Duelmonsters; Anzu was cheering them on; Honda was chatting up a storm with Miho, who was giggling like an idiot; Amora was bothering Jounouchi and Mai and making heart gestures with her hands, much to their annoyance; and Otogi was talking and laughing with Anai and Kana-chan. Ryou simply smiled to himself at the sight, pleased that everything was going well with everyone. _This is why school is great_, he thought to himself as he opened his locker. _Friends, learning, peaceful environment… if only everyone could see school this way._

"Ryou-san, is that you?" a slightly familiar voice sounded from behind him.

He turned around and blinked up at the dark-haired male towering above him before smiling slightly. "Hi. What are you doing in this hallway?" he asked, since each grade had a respective hallway where their lockers were located.

"I had to pay a visit to someone," he explained, shrugging slightly. "How are you today?"

Ryou furrowed his brow. "Fine…" he answered warily, feeling just a tinge of apprehension in his stomach. Why was he talking to him? He had been so rude to him yesterday, although he _did_ act nicer towards the end. But Marik had warned him that if he was being nice that he most likely just wanted something from him… But, again, what could he have to give? He glanced at Bakura for a second, feeling even worse from the distrusting glare he was giving the taller boy. "And you?" he finally returned the question, if only to be polite.

"I've had better days," he admitted, his permanent frown deepening slightly. "Are you working today?"

"Um… actually, yes. Why?"

"I was going to stop by to pick out a new cell-phone plan," he started, "and it'd be nice to have a familiar face helping me out."

"Oh," Ryou said, slightly surprised. _Maybe this was all he wants me for? _he thought as the tension in his stomach vanished. _Maybe he thinks I can get him a discount or something? _He smiled genuinely this time before saying, "Sure, I'd love to help you out. If you stay nice like this the whole time."

Kaiba was surprised to feel his heart skip a beat as he looked at "her." _Huh, weird_, he thought before smirking slightly. "Well, that'll be a challenge."

"Well, I'm generally known for challenging people," Ryou told him, chuckling.

Kaiba let out a short laugh before turning on his heels and walking away, calling behind him, "See you after school, then."

"Right." Was it just him, or did Kaiba say "school" as if it was the most undesirable thing in the universe?

"_What the hell was that?!_" Amora practically yelled directly in his ear.

The poor boy started rubbing his ear before turning to her and frowning. "What are you talking about?"

"_Why_ were you talking to _Kaiba?!_" she clarified. "And how in the _world_ did you get him to _smile and laugh?-?!_"

"I don't know," Ryou answered shrugging. "And is it a crime to talk to him?"

"Well, no," Amora admitted, calming down slightly. "But don't you remember? He's one of the guys we warned you about!"

"Oh…" Ryou faintly remembered being told to watch out for Kaiba, but he couldn't really remember why. "Um, why was that, again?"

"Because he's really mean," Amora told him, shaking her head. "When he first got here, he tried _making_ and bribing people to hang out with him. But recently he's just been shoving everyone away and going off on his own. That still doesn't stop him from messing with some kids that piss him off, though."

Ryou scrunched his eyebrows together before Marik added, "I'd listen to her, Ryou. That guy is bad news, remember what I told you yesterday?"

"Well, what am I supposed to do about it?" Ryou asked, starting to feel defensive. It's not like he _wanted_ to talk to him, he just showed up! He couldn't help but think that everyone was overreacting and blaming him for something he didn't do.

"Avoid him," Yugi said, walking up to "her." "Trust me; one time he kidnapped me because I had a rare trading card he wanted."

"Who the hell would _kidnap_ someone for a _trading card?!_" Bakura asked incredulously.

"Him, apparently," Atem joined in, scowling. "I was terrified when that happened. Do you know what it's like to see your brother being taken right before your eyes? It's not a good feeling."

"I can only imagine…" Bakura commented, his eyes going out of focus as he started imagining someone taking Ryou away… His body started shaking as he imagined such a horrible thing, and soon he started to feel weak and nauseous. _No…_ he thought to himself as he shut his eyes tight and tried to stop thinking about it. But the images just wouldn't stop coming… He knew what strangers did with "pretty" kids, how they would use them, and… and… sell them… for… for…

_No!_ he yelled in his head, his stomach twisting itself into knots as his body locked itself up. _No! __No__**! **__**NO!**_

"Bakura!" he heard a concerned voice whisper in his ear. He finally snapped out of his thoughts and turned his head a little to the right, surprised to see a worried Marik looking at him. "You okay?"

Bakura glanced over at Ryou, who was currently involved in trying to convince Amora that there was nothing to worry about. Which was no small task, mind you, but Bakura just felt relieved to see Ryou right in front of him. He took a deep breath, ridding himself of all the pent-up tension that had been growing before saying, "Yeah. Fine."

Marik frowned. "Do you honestly expect me to believe that?"

"Yes."

Marik rolled his eyes and would have said something more, but just then the warning bell rang. "We're not done with this conversation," he informed the protective older brother as he and the rest of their friends started walking to class.

"Oh, I think we are," Bakura muttered under his breath.

"Amora, we have to go to class now – _I'll be fine_," Ryou was still insisting.

The matchmaker frowned and crossed her arms. "Fine. But just be warned; on the danger scale, Kaiba's a two above what Otogi was."

"I'm so flattered," Otogi cut in, rolling his eyes. "I wasn't that bad, was I?"

"You _really_ don't want me to answer that question," Amora informed before walking ahead of him to class 9-B.

Ryou just sighed as he walked to class. _Why does bad luck seem to be attracted to me?_ he asked himself. To start, he gets mistaken for a girl, then _Otogi _happens, and now there was the possible danger of Kaiba? When would it end? And here he thought things were going to be peaceful for a while – _ha! _Of course not; Ryou's life can't be _calm!_ That's be too _simple!_ _Boring! Ordinary!_ How could he have believed for one second that things would stay fine? It was foolish to think so, and he definitely wouldn't make such a mistake again. Heck, maybe soon he'd be _used_ to his life being out of wack all the time. Maybe soon he'd consider peace _too_ boring, and already know how to solve the problem before it happens. _Maybe_ he'll even start _looking_ for trouble, just for something to do!

As Ryou heatedly sat down at his desk and prepared himself for note-taking, he tried to calm himself down. There was no use getting all worked up over this _now_; the only thing that would result in was bad notes and not being able to remember anything the class talked about. And yet, even though he knew he should be paying attention, he couldn't help but think about Kaiba again. Taking his bad-luck streak into account, the likeliness of something even _worse_ happening with this ever-frowning person was either very high, or fairly low…

Maybe he should be a little more cautious. Just to be safe.

* * *

Ryou and Bakura were both more than anxious to leave school and head to work that afternoon.

For Ryou, it was because he did _not_ want to deal with practically _everyone_ telling him to watch out for Kaiba, and that he shouldn't _ever_ talk to him, and that he shouldn't even help him at his _job_, and blah, blah, _blah_. Don't get him wrong, he appreciated that everyone cared so much, but it was getting on his nerves! Despite popular belief, he _could_ take care of himself – why did it seem like _no one_ believed that? What did he have to do to prove himself?! Was Haga not a good enough example?-? For crying out loud – he probably scarred that boy for life!-!

Bakura, on the other hand, only had one person to blame for his anxiousness to get to work: _Marik_. All throughout lunch he wouldn't _leave him alone_ about his little "black out" in the morning. Although, this _probably_ wouldn't have annoyed him so much if the stupid kid hadn't guessed what had been wrong.

"… _Losing Ryou really terrifies you, doesn't it?_"

That was what he had asked him, talking in a hushed tone as if speaking a deadly secret. It was all Bakura could've done not to start choking him right then and there, shouting, "Of course it does!-! Are you a fucking retard?! I thought you _knew_ what I felt for him! I thought you _knew _what he means to me! _He's the only family I have left!-!_"

... Unfortunately, Marik's words just made him "black out" and start shaking again. Luckily no one but the Egyptian noticed, but it was still a stab at Bakura's pride. He had never met someone who could read him so _easily_ – he had thought the only one who could do that was his dad. It was slightly unnerving to find someone else with this ability, and yet it was also… a little reassuring. Just a little.

Anyways, they definitely felt relieved once they heard the little _ding _that signified their passing into the quaint little cell-phone store. Glancing at each other and seeing the same small smile on the other's face, they just smiled bigger as it hit them, for about the millionth time in their short lives, that they were insanely in sync as always. They didn't even bother to ask what was wrong with the other, since they both knew that they themselves didn't want to talk about it, so why would the other?

Hashime could sense that they were a little more eager for work today, and wasted no time on sending them to do some slightly more ambitious (and boring) jobs, such as taking inventory and sweeping the store.

It wasn't long until the first _ding_ resounded in the store, and Ryou looked up from the patch of floor he was sweeping to see Kaiba standing there. Oh, that's right; he had almost forgotten about him. Kind of funny, considering he was the reason he had been so eager to come to work in the first place.

"Hello, again, Ryou-san," Kaiba greeted, bobbing his head once.

_Funny, _Ryou thought to himself angrily, _considering he had been telling me to _bow_ to him yesterday_. For some reason, Ryou just couldn't find it in himself to even _want_ to act civilly to this person. After all, he was the reason everyone was worrying about him, right? Wouldn't they stop worrying about him if he just didn't interact with him? But, sadly, he needed this job, and if he acted rude to him, well… he _was_ powerful, sadly.

With that in mind, he was able to manage a smile before saying, "Hello, again. So, what kind of plan were you thinking of?"

"What would you consider the best one?" he asked.

Ryou scoffed a little. "I didn't think my opinion was that important to you."

"Well, you _do_ work here."

"Touché." Ryou shrugged before walking over to the display that held a few of their most popular cellular plans and pointed to the first one. "Well, we're having a sale on this one this week, and –"

"What plan do you have?" Kaiba interrupted.

"I don't have a phone."

Kaiba chuckled a bit. "You work here and don't own a cellphone?"

Ryou smiled sheepishly. "Well… We can't afford one yet. We're working here to get them."

"We?"

"Me and my brother, of course. Or are you really so self-centered that you forgot already?" Ryou said before he could stop and think. He quickly wanted to hit himself upside the head once he realized what he said, though. _I am so getting fired…_

Much to his surprise, however, instead of being angry, Kaiba _laughed_. "No. I guess I'm just not used to hearing "we" on anything."

"Oh… Yeah, me and Bakura do everything together," Ryou said, shrugging. "Well, used to – school's been a bit of a drag lately."

"Tell me about it," Kaiba related, rolling his eyes.

Ryou smiled a little. "Anyways, like I was saying, we have a sale on this one since it's been the customer favorite for a while…" Ryou continued to tell him about the other cell phone plans, but he soon realized that Kaiba couldn't care less about any of the stuff he was saying. But if that was so, then why in the world was he here? Everyone had been telling him that if he was being nice that he wanted something, so if he didn't want a discount or a "familiar face in the store," then what could he possibly want?

"So, which one do you like the best?" Ryou asked once he was done with his spiel.

"Hm… Well, I make a lot of long-distance calls, so I suppose the long distance plan would be the most logical."

"Good choice. Should I ring you up?"

"Sure."

Ryou walked over to the cash register and started typing in buttons when Kaiba leaned on the counter and asked, "So, you and your brother get along really well?"

Ryou nodded. "Yeah. I know most people say they can't stand their siblings, but I've always loved Bakura."

"Hm…"

Ryou looked up at him before asking curiously, "Don't you and your brother get along?"

"Well, yes," Kaiba said, "but I'm not able to spend a lot of time with him anymore."

Ryou bit his lip. "I guess…" Honestly, at that moment he felt even angrier at the teenage business owner. All his little brother wanted was to spend more time with him, but did he think about _that?_ Of course not…

"He's a good kid though, wouldn't you say?"

Ryou smiled, remembering the bubbly, nice little boy. "Yeah, definitely."

Kaiba grinned a little. "I'm glad to hear you say that –"

"What are you doing here?"

Ryou and Kaiba turned to see a glaring Bakura standing in the doorframe that leads to the storage room. "He's buying something," Ryou explained with just a hint of annoyance. He really was grateful that Bakura cared and worried about him, but seriously, _he could handle this_.

"Oh," Bakura said, blinking his glare away. "Carry on, then," he said easily before walking over and picking up the broom that Ryou had abandoned.

Ryou smiled as Bakura started sweeping the floor. _Thanks, 'Kura_, he thought happily. Maybe he _was_ starting to realize that he could handle things himself!

Unfortunately, Ryou didn't seem to realize just how attentively Bakura was listening in on their conversation. Kaiba did, however, and his eye twitched once out of annoyance. _Damn it_, _he might get in the way,_ he thought before smiling at Ryou. "Well, thank you for helping me. Here's the money I owe you."

"Ah, thank you!" Ryou told him as he took the money and put it into the cash register and printed a receipt. "Have a good day!"

Kaiba chuckled a bit. "What a practiced store goodbye," he commented before grabbing his receipt and walking off. "Work on sounding more authentic!" were the last words he said before the _ding_ signaled his departure.

"I might be just wearing an old hat, here," Bakura said once the door closed. "But I really don't like him."

Ryou shrugged. "Neither do I… I still don't know what he could want from me, either."

Bakura scowled. "Ryou, you are a "girl" now, do you think –?"

"N-NO!" Ryou exclaimed, blushing profusely. "Th-that can't be it at all!-! He, he doesn't seem the type to be interested in relationships, anyway, and definitely not, not… anything – gah! I'm going on break," he said in a rush before dashing into the break room.

Bakura sighed and leaned against the broom. _Great, now he'll be stuck in "thought-mode" for the rest of the day_…

* * *

Bakura had hit it right on the mark.

For the rest of the time while Ryou was working, he couldn't get the idea of Kaiba possibly liking him out of his head. He knew that it was most likely ridiculous, since he didn't really seem the type to care about his love life, but… why else would he be acting "nice" to him – something he rarely or never does, apparently? Although he hadn't really acted nice to him until after… after _what?_ Ryou couldn't place any change in his own behavior or any major event that would cause the taller boy to start being nice, so why _did_ he start acting that way? Maybe it was a delayed "love at first sight" reaction? But that doesn't make any sense either…!

Ryou tried, and tried, and _tried_, to figure this Kaiba situation out, but he had rarely any information on the boy's habits/personality other than that he was mean, arrogant, and someone to watch out for. With such little information, he just kept thinking in circles and ended up confusing himself; the more he thought about it, the less anything he thought of made sense, and by the time work had ended he was simply exhausted from thinking in general. It was then that he simply started hoping; he hoped that maybe Kaiba was just trying to change into a different person, and that was why he was acting nice for a change. He _dearly_ hoped that Kaiba didn't like him, because, as he's told himself many a time before, he doesn't want another relationship right now. He _also_ hoped that he could just have a normal life, but sadly that didn't seem possible at this time.

He sighed. "'Kura?" he asked, simply to distract him from his thoughts. "Can you make me some "Ryou doesn't want a relationship right now" posters?"

"With or without color?" Bakura asked without missing a beat.

He laughed a bit. "I love you right now."

"Same," Bakura replied with a smile.

They walked on in silence for a bit before Ryou asked, "You think I can take care of myself, right?"

Bakura looked at him for a second. "Ryou," he started, already filling Ryou's stomach with dread, "you're my brother; I'll always want to take care of you."

"But you think I _can_ handle things myself, right?!"

"… Some things."

"_Most_ things?"

"…"

Ryou groaned. "How am I supposed to convince everyone else I'm a capable young boy –"

"Girl."

" – right, if my own _brother_ doesn't even believe it?!"

Bakura creased his eyebrows together. "Ryou, this never bothered you before… why is it now?"

"Because I didn't realize just how much people worried about me until recently," he replied. "I mean, yeah, I'm grateful to have so many people to help me out when I need it, but… I don't know, I feel like I've gotten too dependent." He stopped walking and gestured towards his brother. "I mean, look at _you_. I bet no one worries about you."

"You do."

"Yeah, but that's for things like having friends and being nice to people. I bet _everyone_ thinks you can take care of yourself without needing anyone."

Bakura frowned slightly. _I'll always need you, Ryou_, is what he _wanted_ to say, but that even sounded too embarrassing in his _mind_, let alone out loud. "Well… I mean…" he sighed, "Ryou, you're great as you are – don't try and change just because of this."

Ryou pouted slightly. "I just want people to have faith in me, you know?"

"Yeah, I know," Bakura said, smiling a bit, "but Ryou, face it – people are always going to worry about you because you're too nice. Which is _good_, so stop worrying about it. Besides, as long as you yourself know you can take care of yourself, who cares what others think?"

Ryou sighed. "I suppose…"

"Besides, Ryou," he continued, already feeling a little embarrassed at what he was about to say, "when people worry about you, that just means they love and care about you and don't want to see you get hurt – so don't fret, this just shows how many friends you have."

Ryou rubbed the back of his neck and looked down, a little embarrassed now. "Well… I guess you're right…"

Bakura ruffled his brother's hair while chuckling. "There we go. Now show me that famous Ryou smile."

The younger twin chuckled a bit before looking up and shining his brightest smile at his brother. "Thanks, 'Kura."

"Anytime," Bakura said, smiling softly and avoiding his eyes, "and, uh, Ryou? …" he took a silent, deep breath before admitting quietly, "… I'll always need you, okay?"

Ryou blinked for a second before smiling even brighter and hugging him, happiness welling up in his stomach now; his brother _never _said corny things like that! "Aww~, 'Kura, how sweet!"

"Yeah, yeah, get off…" Bakura replied, even as he hugged him back and blushed slightly. _Anything was worth this_, he told himself as a small smile fought its way onto his face. _Even such an embarrassing phrase_.

* * *

The next day at school was completely uneventful for Ryou. Although he _did_ notice that rarely anyone commented on Kaiba, which he was extremely grateful for. He wondered what had changed their minds, since usually they talked about the same subject for days on end, but then he realized that he should just be grateful for the sudden change and enjoy it.

He had had no way of knowing that when Bakura had walked ahead that morning (leaving Marik and Ryou alone together despite everything in his nature), he had told everyone not to bother Ryou about Kaiba since "she" was feeling a tad annoyed that everyone was worrying over "her," and that no one believed "she" could handle this "herself." Of course, no one had realized that their warnings had annoyed the "girl" so much and agreed not to talk about the rude businessman for that day. "Unless something happens!" Amora had conditioned, but no one had really known what she meant by "something happening."

Bakura knew he wouldn't have to worry about Marik mentioning the boy, since it seemed he couldn't care less about him. Also, he really did not need to show him more evidence about just how much he _did_ care for Ryou, considering yesterday's little… private show.

All in all, Thursday was a very fun day for everyone. Especially during lunchtime.

"Bakura!" Ryou called as he ran to the lunch table in a hurry.

"What is it?" he asked, his feet resting on top of the table.

"They have _Oreos~!_" he sang before producing two of the black-and-white treats from behind his back and grinning ear to ear.

"Get out," Bakura said, smirking and taking one of the cookies. "When was the last time we had one of these?"

"One year, seven months, two weeks, and sixteen days," Ryou responded, laughing. "But, I mean, who's counting? Right?"

"You just made that number up right now, didn't you?" Bakura asked with a chuckle.

"Why do you guys like Oreos so much?" Jounouchi asked.

"Why don't you ask Marik?" Bakura asked, since he had noticed a rather _peculiar_ blush appearing on his face. Which, of course, only increased when everyone turned to look at him.

"… It's not the Oreo itself," Marik started, avoiding everyone's gaze. "But, rather, how they eat them…"

"Correct!" Bakura exclaimed. He glanced at Ryou, winking before they took one of the ends off and kissed the middle. A few of their friends started laughing, but others just gave them a look like, "What the heck, guys?"

"Switch!" Ryou called before they exchanged the half of the cookie they had kissed, put their own top back on, and took a bite. "And that's the way the cookie crumbles!" they finished in unison.

Everyone simply stared at them for a second as they processed what just happened. Then, Atem said, "We should be more twinly like that, Yugi." Which, of course, sent _everyone_ into bouts of laughter.

"Do – do we have a volunteer?" Bakura asked after a few moments, still trying to control himself.

"Volunteer for wh-what?" Amora asked, also trying to stop laughing.

"To be the middle of a backwards Oreo, of course!" Bakura replied, putting his arm around Ryou and gesturing between them.

The idea of what they were saying clicked in most of their friends' brains, but others were still a bit confused. "What the heck are you talking about?" Otogi and Jounouchi asked.

"I nominate Anai-chan!" Amora said, raising her hand and smiling.

"Very well. Ryou?" Bakura turned to his brother and smirked. "What do you say? Shall we continue the legacy?"

Ryou shook his head, but there was still a smile on his face. "I knew I should've left the Oreos alone."

"But…?"

"_But_, why not?" Ryou asked before standing up.

"Wh-what are you guys going to d-do?" Anai asked timidly, biting her lip as she looked between them. She didn't really like the look in Bakura's eye, but she trusted Ryou, so… it was a most confusing predicament.

"Nothing much," Ryou assured her with a smile. "Please just bare with us for a minute or two."

"And please, feel free to enjoy," Bakura added with a wink.

"… O-Okay…" Anai mumbled as they advanced towards her. Half of her felt fine with this, and half of her felt terribly frightened, but in the end both feelings helped keep her in her seat instead of running away screaming. Soon, they started the sequence:

"_Twice the sweet." _

"_And twice the flavor." _

"_Just the type of taste to savor!" _

… Needless to say, Anai blushed _hard _just as soon as she realized that Ryou and Bakura had kissed her on the cheek. She barely noticed Amora patting her sympathetically on the back, or the fact that the Yin-Yang twins returned to their seats.

"I'm glad to see you enjoyed that," Bakura commented with a snicker.

"Ah, sorry," Ryou told her, smiling sheepishly. _She's so shy – we shouldn't have done that to her_… he thought with regret.

"N-no, don't apologize…" Anai managed to say, though she sounded hollow.

"You guys are nuts," Marik muttered, shaking his head.

"Coming from the boy who got the first Backwards Oreo of the season."

"It's not like I asked!" Marik spat, blushing to high heaven.

"Oh, that would explain things," Otogi said, grinning at the Egyptian.

Marik glared at him. "Don't project your fantasies onto me."

"Oh, does little Otogi-kun want one too~?" Bakura asked, laughing out of pure joy that he managed to get both Marik _and_ Otogi to blush at the same time.

"Calm down a little," Ryou told his brother with a poke to the shoulder. "It happened, it's over, let's move on."

"Right, right," Bakura said, still snickering.

"You just can't beat the combined power of a twin's love," Amora commented offhandedly.

Bakura smirked. "No," he said, looking at Ryou. "I guess you can't."

* * *

Ryou and Bakura were walking home from school; the Girls' Club meeting had just ended, and Bakura was trying to coax Ryou into telling him what they had talked about.

"Come on," he almost whined, "what could be so secretive that you can't even tell your brother?"

"I just can't tell you," Ryou said, a little grin on his face.

"Why not?!"

"It would go against the Girl Code," Ryou told him, though even as he said it he knew that didn't sound quite right coming from him.

"… Ryou, you're a _boy_," Bakura accurately pointed out.

"The notion still stands."

"Ryou, a boy attending the meetings is probably against this "Code" of which you speak."

"Yes, but…" Ryou paused as he thought of a good response. "… Well, they all _think_ I'm a girl, don't they?"

"Not for long if you don't bloody tell me soon…"

"Bakura!" Ryou exclaimed, stopping on a dime and turning to him with his arms akimbo. "You promised you wouldn't tell anyone, and you _already_ broke that rule once…"

_Twice_, Bakura thought before saying, "Well, since it's already broken, there wouldn't be any harm in breaking it more, would there?"

Ryou glared at him. "Careful – if you keep breaking things like that you'll get cut."

Bakura looked at his brother for a second before smirking. "Was that a _threat?_" he asked amusedly.

"_Maaaaaay_be," Ryou said coyly as he chuckled and started walking again.

"I'm _so_ proud."

They both started laughing, and the joyous sound continued for a few more minutes before lapsing into a comfortable silence. Which was soon broken by Bakura.

"Seriously though," he said, "I'm going to need to know what the heck you girls talk about."

"You mean "you _and_ _the_ girls," right?"

"I meant precisely what I said."

Ryou punched his brother lightly with a smile in response. "Oh, shut up. Unless…" he pretended to gasp, "you actually _want_ a little sister?!"

Bakura laughed. "Oh please –"

"But, it would make sense!" Ryou continued, fighting a smile as he spoke in as dramatic a voice as he could muster. "That's why you always make me cook and clean –"

"_I'm_ the one who bloody _irons_…"

"– and encourage me to be prim and proper all the time –!"

"You actually force that upon yourself."

"Not to mention keeping my hair long!"

"We _both_ keep our hair long!" Bakura said before putting his arm around him and grinning. "Stop trying to be dramatic – if these are your acting skills, you won't get a part in the school play."

Ryou stuck his tongue out and giggled before walking slightly ahead. "I'm a better actor than you think I am, 'Kura-kun~."

Bakura rolled his eyes. "I know, it was a joke."

"Still, the actor in me requires you to stay at least three feet away from my personal bubble," Ryou joked, laughing immediately afterwards.

Bakura rolled his eyes in amusement; personal space had _never_ been a thing for Ryou, and he actually mocked other people for having too drastic of one. "Yes, your thespian-ness," he went along with the joke, bowing slightly.

They both laughed again, happy to share in such silly, happy moments together.

Then, everything went all wrong.

A squat, black limo came to a squeaking stop right next to the twins, and before Bakura could process the danger, two suited men stepped out of the car and forcefully picked Ryou up off the ground by both arms. He was instantly filled with panic as he started kicking and squirming, but he soon realized that it was getting him nowhere; he couldn't get a lot of momentum when he was above the ground.

Bakura tried to reach for him, but his fingers only scraped past fabric as the men stepped back and shoved Ryou into the car, getting in quickly after. Ryou quickly scrambled to the darkened window, only having enough time to scream "_Bakura!_" and see his brother's panicked and shocked face before the car sped away like a speeding bullet. He stared out of the window and watched unidentified objects blur, the car and his ragged breathing being the only thing he could hear. His throat had turned dry, so he swallowed before noticing his fast-paced heartbeat. His brain finally said something then, though even that was a jumbled mess of confusion. One thing stood out, though:

_What's going to happen to me?_

* * *

Bakura could only stare at the bland car that had taken his baby brother.

"No…" he mumbled as he fell to his knees, but he didn't even notice at first because his body had gone numb.

"No…!" he said just a little louder as the scene played over and over in his mind. Ryou struggling. The desperate look on his face as he screamed his name through the blacked-out window. The English license plate seeming to mock him as it sped past; "Look what I've got!"

"_**NO!**_" he screamed as the tears came, a giant wave of fear and panic hitting him as all sorts of scenarios played out in his head. Car crash. Rape. Sex slave. Murder. Car crash. Dumped somewhere. Chopped up for food. Car crash. Kept as a "prize." Car crash. Car crash. Car crash.

No… everything had been so happy and carefree only seconds before! Why, _why_ did this happen? How could he have _let _it happen?! How could he have been so _careless?-?_ His brother… his little brother was with some _creep_ right now!

_It's just a nightmare_, he tried to tell himself. _I, I'm just _thinking_ about this happening, like yesterday when Atem talked about _his_ brother being kidnapped. Yes, that's it… this isn't real, Ryou's fine, he's… he's… _

Gone.

He's gone.

Taken from him in such a horrible manor, where even more horrible things will be done to him. And here Bakura sits, too powerless, weak, and downright _pathetic_ to even _do_ anything about it! He was supposed to _protect_ Ryou, not lose him! He was supposed to always be by Ryou's side; the Yin cannot live without the Yang!-! _He_ should've been taken, not Ryou!-!-!

He needed Ryou… He needed him to always be there. Who else could he trust completely? Who else would forgive him without a moment of hesitation? Who else would love him despite all of the horrible things he had done? Who else would smile at him and say "I love you"?

_He was the only thing left that I could call "family_"…!

A little whimpering sound brought him back to the present, making him aware that he was now curled up on the cold sidewalk, his collar stained with saltwater and his heart pounding wildly, as if wanting to jump out of his chest and chase after the car. But that would be stupid; there was no way he'd be able to get to it in time. He needed help. He needed to ask someone for help.

"Dad…" he murmured before sitting up.

"M… Marik…"

* * *

**That last scene makes me look like such a thiefshipper. Oh wait, I am XD *shot***

**Haha! I hope you all enjoyed this and are not mad at me for a) the cliffhanger (though it's not that bad, is it?) b) making Bakura OOC by making him cry (though it seems fine, doesn't it?), and/or c) filling your heads with the thought of Ryou and Bakura kissing people's ****(Marik's)**** cheeks (come on, you all know you're enjoying the image ;D). **

**I hope it's fairly obvious who kidnapped Ryou. If not, you'll find out the next time I decide to write a chapter! **

**Why is it I find myself enjoying the Pegasus scenes immensely? XD **

**Please review and tell me what you thought! I enjoy reading all of your wonderful comments, ideas, and feelings ^^ They encourage me to write. **

**~~~{REVIEW REPLIES}~~~**

**Amy**: Thank you! Haha, you'll have to wait awhile before finding out how the sleepover goes XD After all, that's a week away in Ryou's time!-! I have a lot of ground to cover before then XP  
I hope you're much more curious about what's going on currently, though ;D at least for now.  
Thank you for reviewing, deary~ ^^

**Person**: Hmmm… the thing is, I'm nooooot a bit supporter of threeways ^^" And none of them are really in the mindset of threeways being a possibility, if that makes sense?  
I threw a little Tornshipping action in here for ya, though! Since you think it's so kawaii. Hope you liked it =) (that scene was fun to write, actually XD *shot*).

**Prehistoric Waff**: Nice username XD  
Reviews _are_ great – thank you for this one! XD *chuckles* I agree that they are what keep us authors going – I shall try to remember the joy and excitement each one brings me from now onwards ^^ Thank you, kind sir or madam.  
I hope you're enjoying the story! And thank you again for reviewing ^^


	14. Let It Be

_Chapter 14: Let it Be_

* * *

The kidnapper was someone that Ryou hadn't been expecting _at all_. Mostly because he hadn't really ever thought about being kidnapped before, but still - in hindsight, it seemed incredibly obvious.

"_Kaiba! What the hell?!"_

If he could have growled that sentence like a rabid dog, believe me, he would have. He was furious!

"What?" the teenage billionaire asked, his legs crossed and a careless expression on his face. "You can't tell me you were surprised."

"I _was_, actually, and you know who else is? _My brother who is probably worried __**sick **__right now!-!_"

"Give him a call and tell him you're fine, then," Kaiba was entirely unsympathetic.

"_WE DON'T HAVE CELL PHONES!" _Ryou yelled, gripping the edges of his seat tightly in an effort to control his explosive anger. "_Remember?! I told you that __**yesterday!-!**_"

Kaiba actually paused for a second, as if seeming to ponder this. Maybe he'd let him go? At least drive back to school to show Bakura that he was all right? To prove he was actually at least a semi-sane person?

His small hopes were dashed when all Kaiba said was, "Not my problem."

Ryou just stared at him incredulously, unsure if he had heard him right. _What the _hell_ is this guy's problem?!_ he thought angrily. He was finally starting to understand all of the horrible things everyone said about Kaiba. Worse than Otogi was right! He hadn't tried to _kidnap_ him! And here he thought Kaiba was just some rich kid with an attitude problem… it turns out he's actually a _cold-hearted, insane person_.

"Anyways," Kaiba transitioned, "care for something to drink?" He gestured to a mini fridge stuck in the corner of the red-furnished limousine, one of the men who had taken Ryou opening it to show him an assortment of beverages.

Ryou rolled his eyes in disgust. "I am out of here as soon as this car stops."

"How?" Kaiba asked with a smirk as he pointed to the doors. It was then Ryou noticed that the locks needed a key on the inside as well… He looked back at Kaiba, who was twirling a little, golden key around his index finger, a small smirk on his lips. "Any other words you'd like to add?"

"I hate you."

"I get that a lot."

"Just tell me why I'm here already!" Ryou snapped. "I need to show my brother that I'm fine! How would you like it if someone abducted _Mokuba_ right in front of you, huh?!"

"Speaking of my brother," Kaiba said, not even phased by Ryou's comment at all. "That's why you're here, actually."

* * *

"_Marik!_" Bakura yelled as he ran down one of the school hallways towards the extremely surprised Egyptian.

"Bak -?" he started before he took in the boy's state a little better. The older twin was _crying_ and had an incredibly wild look in his eyes, the sight of which immediately sent Marik into a secondhand panic. "What's wrong?!"

Bakura was shaking now; he wrapped his arms tight around his waist and stared helplessly into his classmate's eyes. "Ryou… It-it's _Ryou_, he – he…" he took a deep breath before adding one word: "K-kidnapped…!"

Marik felt his heart sink as Bakura's words sunk in. Seeing as how there was already one emotionally unstable person aware of the situation, however, he steeled his own feelings and placed his hands on the shaking boy's shoulders. "Bakura," he started very calmly. "I need you to tell me everything that you remember, okay?"

He could only nod before swallowing and closing his eyes tight, more tears falling and making shiny paths down his cheeks. "It… it was a bl-black, car – no, _limo!_ And… it had an Eng-English license plate… Oh, why can't I remember what it said?!"

"It's okay," Marik assured, anger starting to rise in him. "I think I know who took him."

"_You do?!_" Bakura asked hysterically as he gripped one of Marik's arms a little too tightly.

Marik could feel his heart snapping as he stared into the desperate yet hopeful brown eyes that were usually so mocking and mischievous. It was so… bizarre to see him this way. It felt like he was in another dimension. "Y-yes…" he choked out, clearing his throat.

"_**Who?!**_"

Marik had to take a moment to really take in the emotionally distressed boy in front of him. "… Let's just say it looks like Kaiba did want something from him after all."

* * *

Pegasus sighed as he stared at the huge piles of _work_ stacked up on his desk. Bills. Forms. Records. Bills. Files. Applications. Bills. Too much work for one man to do! And this was only stuff related to his _principal_ duties; his counselor and company work has yet to even be _touched!_

He sighed again as he took a piece of paper from the top stack, looking at it and already feeling a dark cloud hanging over his head. "It's going to be a long night for Pegasus J. Crawford…" he said to himself as he clicked his pen.

As he stared at all of the work and scribbled characters that he knew he'd have to correct with white-out later, he realized that he'd rather be doing _anything_ other than this… _Which is ridiculous for a responsible adult_, he thought to himself. _But, I mean, _really_ – who actually _likes_ all this paperwork?!_

Well, it wasn't so bad, he presumed. It was better than taxing, physical labor, right? Although at least with that he'd probably be outside and getting a good exercise, working his body into shape and freeing up his mind to think of more philosophical things.

. . . Maybe it was time he reevaluated what he perceived to be "good" work.

Well, anyways, you can imagine how happy he was when two students burst into his room at this point. _Oh, good! Now I don't have to do this anymore! _he thought, though subconsciously he knew that he shouldn't be thinking that children having problems was a _good_ thing.

However, his misbegotten happiness was soon replaced with surprise when he saw that it was Marik and Bakura. That newly obtained surprise doubled itself and invited worry to the party once he noticed that Bakura was _crying_.

_Oh, this is _so_ not good_, he thought before asking, "What is the problem, boys?"

He almost felt like fainting when they told him that one of his favorite students had been kidnapped by one of his more difficult students.

_Damn it, Kaiba, you've gone too far this time!-!_

* * *

"Let me get this straight," Ryou said, after Kaiba explained everything. He was shaking from anger by this point, the newly-opened soda that he reluctantly accepted being crushed in his hand a little. "You _kidnapped me_ for the sole purpose of asking me if I'd like to babysit Mokuba!?"

"That's right."

"WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU!?" Ryou exploded, standing up and throwing the soda on the floor, not caring about any possible stains the plush carpet would receive. "You didn't have to _kidnap me_ to ask me that!"

"Well, I would have asked you to babysit back at the cell-phone store," Kaiba said as some suit started wiping up the soda. "But your brother got in the way of that. I figured he'd just get in the way again, so this was the only solution."

"_You're insane,_" Ryou snapped at him, collapsing back into his seat.

"I get that a lot, too."

"Why would I even agree at this point?!" Ryou asked him, glaring as harshly as he could. Which, sadly, didn't seem to affect the stoic boy much. "I'm not going to listen to a kidnapper!"

"We'll just keep driving around until you agree, then," Kaiba told him, grinning smugly. Oh, how Ryou wanted to rip that smile off of his face…

The pale boy huffed and leaned back in his chair, sighing. Honestly, if it wasn't for the whole mess of being taken and shoved into a car, Ryou would have agreed right away to babysit Mokuba. Kaiba was offering a huge amount of money in return for such a simple task, and Ryou liked the younger boy, anyway.

_But_, since Kaiba _did_, in fact, _kidnap him_ and probably scared Bakura half to death, like hell he was going to agree!

"You can't force me to babysit," Ryou told him, rolling his eyes and crossing his arms. "I'm not going to agree no matter what you say."

"I was afraid of that," Kaiba said, letting out a disappointed breath. He uncrossed his legs and re-crossed them the other way before offering, "What if I double the price?"

Ryou's eyes widened. _Holy crap, that's a lot of money…_ He and Bakura could really use that: cell phones, a car, college… But, but this was a matter of principle! "No," Ryou finally replied, shaking his head. "You cannot buy my resolve with money!"

"Triple?"

"..." Ryou swallowed a little, his forehead breaking into a nervous sweat. Maybe they could come to s-some sort of agreement after all, for, for _that_ much money. After all, it wasn't like he had been harmed physically! "Well -"

Kaiba's cell phone interrupted the breakdown of Ryou's resolve.

The taller boy scowled before taking out his phone. As soon as he eyed the caller ID, he smirked, making Ryou very curious. "Ah, well, Ryou," Kaiba looked up at him, looking very proud of himself for some reason. "You don't need to worry anymore." He ignored the call and pocketed it again. "That was Pegasus, which means your precious brother must know you're with me. So, we now have all day."

"Wait, _what?!_" Ryou gaped at him, unsure if he had heard correctly. "Are you sure he's calling about me?"

"There would be no other reason for him to call."

"... But… but that doesn't make any sense!" Bakura… asked someone for _help?!_ Asked an _adult_ for help? He actually told someone about his kidnapping to _help_ him?! That doesn't sound like Bakura at all…! He was more likely to chase after him himself than to even call the police! Maybe someone else had seen him get abducted? But they'd just call the police right away, not a guidance counselor…

It _had_ to be Bakura's doing then, didn't it? Oh gosh, he was more worried than he thought…

* * *

"_Damn it, Kaiba!_" Pegasus exclaimed, throwing his phone at the passenger seat as he drove calmly through the city, two of his students in the back. "Ooh, if he doesn't think I'll call the cops he has _another thing coming!_ Too far, _too far!_ When will he learn he can't do things like this!? _Money cannot solve all of your problems, boy!_ I'd like to take him out back and teach him a thing or two about human decency! Why does he never listen to me!? I'm gonna kill him, _I'm gonna kill him. _Bakura, you can help!"

His ranting continued on like that, with him complaining about every possible aspect he knew of the boy. Whether it be the way he dresses, the way he talked to people, or the way he ate, even, Pegasus yelled it all to no one in particular. It was almost surprising how many grudges he seemed to have against the guy.

It would have been kind of amusing to Marik, if it wasn't for the circumstances. As it was, with Ryou locked in a spoiled millionaire's car and Bakura curled up behind the driver's seat looking as if his life was ending and his own worries churning into a dreadful smoothie in his stomach… Marik didn't feel too cheerful.

"Bakura?" he said his name quietly, hoping that this time he'd respond. The usually snarky boy hadn't said a word since he had gotten into the car - hell, he hadn't even moved from his fetal position since he he had first looked at the vehicle he looked horrified and turned even more pale. If Pegasus hadn't placed a hand on his shoulder and given him what Marik perceived as an understanding look, Bakura probably wouldn't have entered the car in the first place. It made Marik curious, to say the least. He didn't like cars? Did he just distrust them, or was it deeper than that?

Unfortunately, it didn't seem as if Bakura had even heard him. He still stayed in his curled up position - his arms wrapped around his pulled up legs and his body tilted so that his head leaned against the window, his long hair falling in front of his face. His eyes looked haunted - shaking and moving around, zoning out, pupils dilating, lids closing only to reopen seconds later with an even more terrified look in them… It looked like he was having a panic attack, or suffering from PTSD. He didn't even seem to care that the seat belt was currently digging itself into his ear and creating a red line across his cheek.

"Bakura," Marik tried again, though his voice was kind of washed out from Pegasus' angry yelling. He reached a hand out to touch the boy's shoulder, but quickly retracted it - touching people when they were like this was probably the worst thing you could do. He had experience. "Bakura, please, say something…"

Why was he reacting so strongly? Pegasus had told them that Kaiba's motives were simply wanting Ryou to babysit his little brother, and assured them that he wouldn't hurt Ryou. ("Even _he's_ not _that_ stupid!" Pegasus had scoffed.) If anything, Bakura should at least be a little happier than before - he knew who had his brother and why, and knew that he wouldn't be hurt. Even if he was reacting to the guilt that he shouldn't have let Ryou be captured in the first place, he should be more angry at himself than… whatever he was right now. He should be scowling and joining in on Pegasus' threats, not turning deaf and crazy. Well, crazier, anyway.

Of course, Marik didn't know… He didn't know that, right now, locked in this metal box, Bakura was reliving the most agonizing moment of his life. The moment where everything changed for the worse. The moment that still haunted him to this day. Hell, how could Marik know? Ryou didn't even know. He only knew that their parents had died of a car crash… Not that Bakura had _seen _them crash. He didn't know that Bakura had heard the sickening, deafening clash of metal upon metal as two cars collided. Ryou didn't know he had seen dented, twisted metal warped into sharp, deadly weapons. _No one_ knew he had heard the sound of so many sirens coming to aid them, aid what was already gone; had seen their beloved mom and dad being pulled out of the wreckage by medics, covered in brown, dried blood and ripped clothes, their eyes still open and faces frozen with shock; had heard the sound of his own screams come back to him disjointed and unrecognizable; had felt his tears falling to the unforgiving ground and choking him.

All while he stood off at a distance, struggling yet unable to get closer because of police, and dying with them on the inside.

All of this destruction because of cars. All of this horror because a metal contraption had slammed into his parents' own metal box. All of this death because of driving.

_Car crash_. Metal. _Blood. _So much blood._ Death. _No._ Dad. _Mom.

_Come back. _

Bakura sucked in a breath, tears threatening to fall yet again. No, no, he couldn't cry - he can't cry for something that's hopeless, he had done enough of that already. He couldn't bring them back, no matter what he did. He couldn't give Ryou their family back… He couldn't bring back the love… He couldn't take away his brother's pain, his lonliness, his agony… He couldn't do _anything_. He was _powerless_… Just like when Ryou was taken by another car… Weak, powerless, pathetic…

_What if Ryou dies from a crash, too? What if I'm all alone? _

_What if _I_ die from a crash? What if _Ryou _is_ _all alone?_

He couldn't decide which would be worse. Either one would mean a lifetime of sorrow for either of them. Yet he'd still take the latter over the former - it would hurt less, and let's face it, everyone would take Ryou over him. Death probably wouldn't be so bad… Maybe he could just take it right now…

His body jerked. Guess he was too tense. It did jolt him back to reality a bit, though… His ears toned their ringing down just enough so he could faintly hear someone calling his name. Was it death? Oh, God, did they crash and he didn't even know it? Was he dead? Was Ryou all alone now?

"_Bakura!_"

His eyes focused just enough so he could recognize the back of a car seat. Oh. So, he was still here. Stuck in this metal trap. Awaiting death. Hey, if he died, maybe he could see his parents again, and he could watch over Ryou from above... Maybe he could even bargain with an angel - get their parents back. Ryou needed them more than him… He's missed them so much.

"_And then I'll visit that boy in prison every day just to laugh in his prideful face!" _

Ranting pierced through his brain, and Bakura had to smile a little. His mind filled briefly with the image of Pegasus laughing cruelly at Kaiba, who was scowling behind bars… Metal bars, like what cars of made out of… Made only so they can later crash and kill.

"_Hey, Bakura..._"

Marik... Why was he here? Did he want to laugh at Kaiba's smug face, too? No… That's right, Bakura asked him for help. They were on their way to save Ryou from the maniac. To bring him back home. To make sure he wasn't completely alone in this world.

"Yeah?" His voice sounded hoarse, but at least he had actually spoken a word, and not just screamed or something. That would have been embarrassing, and he was certain he had already embarrassed himself enough in front of him. Oh boy, how was he ever going to be able to talk to Marik now? He was sure the other would only carry pity for him now, instead of playful banter like before. Great. Another friendship ruined.

"... Well, I don't know what to say now." Marik seemed uncomfortable, a surprised look on his face. "I didn't expect you to respond that time."

"Sorry." Bakura slowly lowered his legs down from the floor, coldness reaching his now uncovered torso and making him feel much too empty, much too vulnerable. He had enough of himself back to curse himself out for wanting to hold Marik's hand like a distressed child would hold a mother's, though. "What's been going on?" He sat up and brushed his hair back from his face. His head tingled from where it had laid against the glass for so long, and his ear and cheek throbbed. Why were seat belts so uncomfortable? Why did they strap you into a death trap anyway? What if he needed to get out quickly?

"Well," Marik was much more relaxed now, Bakura noticed, and he flashed him a cautious smile. "Pegasus continues to make threats against Kaiba -"

"_He doesn't even have the decency to answer my calls!_" Pegasus interjected with a frustrated, guttural scream.

"... Right." Marik continued with just a minor pause. "Anyway, we'll find him."

"I know." Bakura turned his head to look out the window. Which he quickly regretted, as the scenery flashing by made him feel nauseated. He closed his eyes again, subconsciously leaning his forehead against the glass and trying to keep calm.

Yes, they were in a car. Yes, they could crash at any moment. Yes, he was terrified by the whole matter. Yes, he would have rather been literally _anywhere_ else in that moment. But he couldn't focus on that right now.

Ryou needed him. And he needed him to be calm.

He was the only family he had left.

* * *

"_Answer the phone!_" Ryou screamed for the millionth time as he was held back by Kaiba's body guard.

"Ryou, please. You're not going to get anywhere by screaming at me."

"ANSWER THE DAMN PHONE!" Ryou simply repeated, thrashing wildly as the guard held him firmly by both arms. Damn it, if only he was stronger!

"If I do," Kaiba sat up a little straighter, holding the shiny, black phone up for him to see. It was still vibrating, with the name "PEGASUS" flashing on the small screen. "Will you babysit my brother?"

"Oh, for the love of -!" Ryou screamed in frustration, feeling much too worked up to think calmly. He could only think about how upset Bakura must be, since he had actually _asked _someone for help. What if he was crying, or hyperventilating, or fainting, or, or _something?!_ "YES! I'll babysit your stupid brother! Now answer the damn phone!"

Kaiba smiled and flipped it open, putting it on speaker as he greeted, "Hello, Pega -"

"_Kaiba, I swear to whatever you believe in that if you don't return that boy __**right this second**__ I will hand you over to the police!"_

"Pegasus, always a pleasure," Kaiba greeted, chuckling.

"_Don't ignore this, Kaiba!_" Pegasus screamed into the phone. "Kidnapping is a _huge_ crime and I will _not_ let it go unpunished!"

"Money can do great things, you know."

"Why you…!" A bit of quiet mumbling was heard on the other end. Then, a different voice spoke.

"Ryou?"

"Bakura!" The guard finally released him, allowing him to rush over and tear the phone out of Kaiba's hand and walk a little bit away. "Are you okay?!"

"Shouldn't I be asking you that?" he snapped, sighing. Him not answering the question was enough to tell Ryou that his brother was not, in fact, okay, and that he'd have to fix that later. "Obviously you're fine since you're crazy enough to ask about my well-being."

Ryou smiled a little. "I'll always worry about you, you know. No escaping it."

"Yeah yeah, I got it. Just tell me if you agreed to babysit or not already."

Ryou was only mildly surprised that Bakura knew the reason Kaiba had taken him. Pegasus did seem to know a lot, after all, so he probably knew what Kaiba wanted from him. "... I kinda just did so he'd answer the phone."

"Wow, intelligence is _blossoming_." (1)

"Oh, shut up!" Ryou laughed, feeling much better now. As long as Bakura wasn't freaking out… He could still remember that time when they were young, and he had went in their backyard without telling anyone. Bakura had been even more worried than their parents when they found him. Probably because they were trying to be calm adults over the situation, but still - Bakura pulling him into a tight hug and not letting go for at least five minutes struck a cord in Ryou's mind. One strong enough for him to worry about Bakura whenever he felt the other would worry over him.

"Two great decisions you've made for your school life so far, Ryou," Bakura continued in a tone that made Ryou imagine him rolling his eyes. "Let's continue them with skydiving, why don't we?"

"Well, they do say that's fun," Ryou joked just before Kaiba took his phone back.

"Tell Pegasus Ryou will be dropped off safe and sound at the mall parking lot," he spoke blandly, hanging up right after. He snapped his fingers and a guard shoved a small card in Ryou's hand. "This holds all the information you'll need for your new babysitting job." The car stopped, and before Ryou could say another word the doors were opened and he was set down on the blacktop - the sun practically blinding him during the process. He turned around to yell one last thing, but the car was locked up and screeching off before he could even form one syllable.

"... I guess I just wait now."

* * *

Pegasus' car was surprisingly silent after that little phone call, though the older man was still mumbling angrily to himself. Something about death threats and police and dark magic and voodoo. Typical stuff.

In the back was the real party, though, with Bakura sitting as stiff as a board in his seat. The only thing that moved was his thumb over the screen of Pegasus' phone, stroking it absently as if he could see Ryou in the reflection. Well, since they were twins, that was technically true, but -

"Thanks."

Marik jumped at the word, looking over to him in surprise. "... You're welcome." He didn't need to ask for what. He assumed the other would just respond with a snarky comment or the vague "everything" that was so common with this type of thing anyway.

Bakura exhaled sharply as if to laugh, the corner of his mouth turning up into a small smile. "You bet I am."

Marik laughed a little, shaking his head as he grinned. "Glad to see you're as arrogant as ever."

Bakura made the same, small laughing sound and turned his head to look out the window. Marik noticed he had goosebumps all over his arms, and it was a little worrying when he quickly looked away from the window, his face paling more than usual. His eyes were back to that far-away, haunted look…

Something must have happened with him and a car. But what? Was he in a car crash?

"Pegasus?" Bakura's voice cracked in the beginning, something he obviously didn't like as he clenched his jaw in annoyance.

"Ah!" Pegasus seemed to jolt out of his mutterings, his polite, practiced, counselor smile coming to his face. "Yes? What is it?"

"Could you play some music?"

"Of course!" He reached his hand over to turn the radio on, some peppy music blasting from the speakers almost immediately. Figures he'd like something with a heavy bass. "Any requests?"

"Classical."

Pegasus looked as surprised as Marik felt. "Classical?"

"It's music for the brain," was all Bakura said, leaning back in his seat and obviously expecting his wish to be fulfilled.

"Well, all right!" Pegasus smiled and started flipping through the stations, humming some odd tune to himself as he did.

Bakura nodded once in satisfaction, leaning his head back against the seat and closing his eyes. He tried not to be too obvious as he took a slow, deep breath through his nose, but Marik could see he was trying to calm himself down. He could feel that nagging sensation in his chest that screamed, _Help him!_ And his brain properly responded with, _He wouldn't want my help_. How could he help if he doesn't even know what's wrong? He could try talking to him again, but that didn't seem to really solve anything last time. Bakura probably wouldn't want to tell him what's wrong, anyway. Why _would_ he want to explain something that makes him… well, what he probably perceives as weak? Besides, at least he was feeling a bit better - enough to maintain a conversation with Ryou and enough to joke, however toned down from normal it was.

Marik's foot started tapping against the floor of the car, a fast, rhythmic pace as he tried to ease his restlessness a bit. He felt hot, trapped in this tense-filled compartment as they drove to the mall. He almost wanted to roll down the window, but that nagging feeling told him that the sound of the wind whipping past the window might set Bakura off again, so he shouldn't. He just wished they could talk about something - _anything_. This uneasy, curious ignorance was driving him mad. Surely Bakura could tell he wanted to know what was going on? He was observant - he was either ignoring him from embarrassment or too lost in his own distressing thoughts to notice. Obviously, the former was preferable to the latter. He only wished he could have a bigger clue to guess what might be wrong, something that could lead him to a definite answer as to why Bakura would be acting this way.

Heh, he almost felt like laughing - here Ryou was the one being kidnapped, and yet his situation still seemed better than whatever his twin was going through.

"There we go!" Pegasus exclaimed once a chorus of slow, calm violins came through the speakers, with other instruments accenting the song as it went along.

"Thanks."

The car went back to silence after that, with Marik being too apprehensive to break it.

* * *

_Kaiba Seto  
__3-7-2 Kinjuku  
Domino City, Tokyo 141-0021__  
(03) 8395-2367 _

(2) Ryou scowled at the printed card Kaiba had left with him. Seriously, who had business cards for their home address?! Or did he just have this one made out for him? Or maybe it was for his babysitters in general, since Kaiba did mention that he wouldn't be the first one to babysit at his house.

It was kind of weird, if Ryou thought about it - Mokuba seemed like a perfect angel when he met him at the cell-phone store! How could he scare away a babysitter? Could he be a devil in disguise? Could he play too rough? Could he do all sorts of things just to get Ryou in trouble because that's amusing to him? Or, maybe Kaiba was just too picky? No, he seems like the type to hire the best babysitter in the country, so it must be something else… Maybe the babysitters didn't like Kaiba? _That_ seemed more plausible, considering what he's seen of his classmate so far.

Ah, well, he'd just babysit this time - he'd get a ton of money for it, after all… And it wasn't like it was the hardest thing in the world to do, right? All he had to do was watch _one _child. He didn't even need to change any diapers or anything like that - he'd probably just end up playing video games with the kid.

Sighing, Ryou laid down on one of the parking lot's "tree islands," staring up at the clouds. He and Bakura used to do this all the time… staring up at them and making shapes out of the random puffs. He chuckled as he remembered how they'd try to imitate the clouds with their hair. Oh, they used to do that for _hours_. And now… well, they didn't really have time for that. It wasn't even their fault - they were just growing up, with more responsibilities, more work, less play, everyone expecting something different from you, worrying over social statuses, worrying about bullies... No wonder teenagers were always so grumpy and scary when he was a kid; this time sucked. Though he doubted being an adult would be that much better - he didn't even know what he wanted to do for a living… He wondered if Bakura knew what he wanted to be, other than a thief, he mused with a small chuckle.

Though his laughter didn't stay for long, as he couldn't help but wonder how his brother was doing right now. He had probably been worried sick when Kaiba had just taken him like that… He knew he would be, if he had seen Bakura taken. Though he'd also try to rationalize that if he wasn't escaping, he was at least giving the captor hell.

Oh, look at that, he actually managed to make himself smile.

It was still disconcerting, though… Bakura had been worried enough to ask Pegasus, an _adult_, for help. Had he asked anyone else? He couldn't, right? It wasn't in his nature. Though if he did ask anyone, it would probably be Marik, but he wouldn't want the other to see him like that, would he? It was quite intriguing to ponder which side of his brain would have won out - panic, or pride.

"Ryou!" He sat up, seeing a small, red car roll up right next to him. Pegasus' head was poking out of the window with a relieved smile. "There you are!"

"Hey!" Ryou smiled at him just as the passenger door opened, Bakura stepping out with a very… calm expression on his face. Great, that meant he was trying not to show how he was really feeling, which meant he was most likely upset in _some _way.

Bakura didn't say anything, though. Instead, he just grabbed Ryou by the arm and pulled him up, forcing him into a hug once he was standing. It was a bit shocking, but not as shocking as the sight of Marik also leaving the car. _He _did_ tell Marik? Oh man..._

"Bakura…" Ryou frowned a little and wrapped his arms tightly around him, sighing and rubbing his back comfortingly. "Sorry to worry you…"

"Just shut up," Bakura mumbled, tightening his grip, but otherwise not moving an inch.

Ryou obliged, and they stayed like that for a very long time, just like they did that one time. Ryou glanced at Marik and gave him an apologetic smile, but he just shook his head and smiled in understanding back at him. He had probably been worried about Bakura, too.

"Um, boys," Pegasus spoke up, smiling weakly at them. "Should I take you home?"

Ryou opened his mouth to accept his offer, but Bakura spoke before he could get a sound out.

"We're walking home." He released Ryou and grabbed his hand instead, tugging him along without waiting for any protests. "Thanks," he called over his shoulder, which made Ryou frown. Something was more wrong with Bakura than he thought… He wasn't acting like himself. Not at all.

Meanwhile, Marik stared after them, hesitating to follow as he didn't know if it would be a good idea or not. Would they want company? Ryou probably would, but… Okay, the real question was, would _Bakura_ want company? He probably wouldn't want anything to do with him after showing so much vulnerability. But if he thought he could ignore him at school, he'd have another thing coming.

He sighed, turning to look at Pegasus, who was giving him a very serious, grown-up look that told him he was going to make a request.

"Marik-san," he spoke quietly, earning the boy's full attention. "Please escort them home."

"... Okay." That was all Marik needed to run after the Ying-Yang twins, crushing the nerves he felt growing in his stomach. He respected Pegasus, after all, and if even he was telling him to follow after them, well, obviously he should, right? It made the most sense.

* * *

"I wanted to punch him _so_ bad!" Ryou complained. "But his stupid body guards kept holding me back, and they're like _walls_ for goodness' sakes, so all I ended up doing was struggling…"

Marik laughed, shaking his head lightly. "He probably heard about what you did to Haga and warned his guards accordingly."

"Probably!" Ryou laughed more and joked, "Guess I'll have to ambush him at school or something!"

They laughed pleasantly, sharing in a good laugh together, but there was no denying that it wasn't as full and honest as it could have been. The only reason for that, of course, was that while Bakura may smile at their jokes, he did not laugh. He wasn't saying anything, either. Just holding Ryou's hand tightly and never lessening his grasp, as if he was afraid someone else was going to come and take him. It was… just plain _weird_ to see him acting like this, even to Marik who hadn't known him for as long as Ryou had.

Continuing their walk in silence, it was almost like they were on their way to school in the morning, only this stroll had a much heavier atmosphere to it. What happened to conversations of school work and oreos? Of shoes and ships and sealing wax, of cabbages and kings?

… Okay, maybe they didn't talk about a lot of those things, but they could! Sometime! If the atmosphere wasn't so suffocating with awkwardness!

"How much money are you getting for this babysitting gig anyway?" Marik asked, more to break the silence than for curiosity's sake.

"Oh, well…" Ryou didn't feel comfortable saying such a large sum aloud. "Let's just say, enough to pay for both mine and Bakura's college tuitions."

Marik whistled, his eyes widening. "Geez! Can I help?"

Ryou laughed a little and joked, "You're not supposed to have anyone over to distract you when babysitting, Mr. Irresponsible."

"Oh, so I'd be distracting?" Marik smirked. "Do tell~"

Ryou blushed a little, wondering if there were any hidden implications in his words. He would have asked, but, once again, before he could speak:

"Could you two please flirt when I'm _not_ around?"

Both Marik and Ryou jumped when Bakura spoke to them, with a carefully placed roll of his eyes, of course. "Or, better yet, don't flirt at all."

Ryou flushed darkly, turning to hiss, "We weren't flirting!"

"You just called Marik a "distraction.""

Ryou flushed even more. "He's a friend! Of course he's a distraction! Wouldn't you agree!?"

"Yes, but for a very different reason."

"Hey, guys?" Marik laughed awkwardly. "I'm still here, you know…"

"Shut it, eye candy."

"_Bakura!_"

"I'm just saying what everyone's thinking."

"May I just remind everyone here that I'm not Otogi?" Marik mumbled, feeling very… uncomfortable now. He was happy that Bakura was talking again, but not if _this_ was the subject matter.

Bakura actually laughed at that, shaking his head a little and smirking. "Just because you're not that playing girly-boy doesn't mean you'd turn down a make-out session with Ryou or I."

Marik flushed along with Ryou now, as the latter yelled at his brother, "_Okay, that's enough!_"

"All right, all right," Bakura chuckled, letting go of Ryou's hand to throw his arm around the boy's shoulders instead, pulling him in close. "I'm just kidding - I know my darling little sister wouldn't run with a bad boy like Marik."

"You think I'm a bad boy?" Marik asked, raising a brow at him.

"Bad enough to get your ears pierced," Bakura clarified with a smirk. "Bad enough to have sex before marriage? Undetermined."

"_Bakura!_" Ryou blushed darkly, giving him an incredulous look. "You can't just -!"

"I can tell you want to find out," Marik joked back, smirking.

"No way," Bakura stuck his tongue out at him with a smirk of his own. "I don't want to risk a nasty Egyptian STD."

"_Bakura!_" Ryou hissed at him. "That's -!"

"Trust me," Marik just snickered and wiggled his brows. "They're worth it."

Bakura burst into laughter, having to clench his stomach when it started to hurt from the effort. Ryou just glared at him, not finding the conversation amusing at all! How could he accuse their friend of having an, an _STD?!_ Even if it was just a joke…!

"You do realize I haven't done anything like that, right?" Marik felt like asking after a while. He was laughing, too, but he also wanted to make sure everyone (Ryou) knew he was just messing around, if it wasn't completely obvious.

"Oh, definitely, Marik!" Ryou turned to him with wide, innocent eyes that made Marik's heart skip a beat. "I'd never think that of you!"

"Of course!" Bakura replied, shaking his head and finally calming down. "You're not _that _stupid."

"Thanks, Ryou," Marik told the younger with a grateful smile before grinning at Bakura. "And exactly. Thanks for the underhanded compliment, 'Kura."

"Well, you are Mr. Perfect, aren't you?"

Marik blushed pink and groaned, tilting his head back so he was looking at the ceiling. "You are _never_ gonna forget that, are you?"

"He's really not," Ryou replied for him, turning to smile at his brother. "But it's one of his charms."

Bakura raised a brow at him for that, a small smile coming to his lips. "... Thanks, little bro."

They walked on in more silence, though it was soon broken by more mindless jabber, more easy jokes and cut-ups. It seemed that Bakura was back to normal, or at least getting there, and the return of his strong character set the others at ease. Their relationship was a sensitive mixture - leave out even one ingredient, and the chemistry just wasn't the same.

However, even though Ryou and Marik were both happy Bakura was back, they were also both very determined in their own way to get the boy to "spill the beans" and tell them what had happened back there exactly. Preferably leaving nothing out, but they knew that was hoping for too much.

In fact, as Ryou gave Marik a quick hug before shuffling inside his house, Marik had the perfect opportunity.

"Bakura," he said his name quietly, not wanting Ryou to overhear.

The older twin ceased moving, even though he was halfway through the door as he turned his head around to ask, "What?"

"Can you…" Marik's mouth turned dry as he realized he had no idea how to ask this. "I… want an explanation," he said simply.

"..." Bakura didn't say anything at first, though Marik noticed his grip tightening on the door handle. "Wait there for a minute," he told him, going inside and slamming the door behind him.

Marik took a shaky breath, letting out nervousness he couldn't even remember feeling as he waited patiently on the porch. Would Bakura actually tell him what the hell had happened with him, just like that? It couldn't be this easy, could it? He couldn't help but feel this was just a trick, and that Bakura would either never come back or come back and throw a bucket of water at him or something. He could honestly see him doing the latter over the former, though, which was why he jumped a little when the door opened.

"Here." Bakura held out a letter to him, his face devoid of expression. "This will explain… mostly everything."

Marik chewed his lip as he reached forward and grabbed it. He had to pull a little, since Bakura seemed to be instinctively holding on tighter than normal. "Thanks." He put his arms to his side and gave him a small smile. "Make sure Ryou's okay, all right?"

"Like I needed you to tell me that?" Bakura scoffed, closing the door and closing off any more conversation.

Marik had to chuckle and shake his head as he walked off. Here he thought Bakura would behave differently around him now… Color him surprised. And speaking of surprises…

Marik ripped open the letter, unfolding it carefully and starting to read. He was surprised to see that he actually had very nice handwriting.

~!~!~

_At first I was just going to write "fuck you" and not tell you anything. But then I realized you wouldn't leave me the hell alone at school, so lucky you gets an actual explanation - congratulations. _

_To make a very long story short, the reason I hate cars is because I saw my parents die in a car crash. It was very traumatizing, as you can guess. Ryou doesn't know that I've seen them die, though, and I plan to keep it that way, understand? _

_As for my original state after school, well, to put it very obviously, Ryou's the only family I have left. I'm not so arrogant as to think I'd be fine on my own - in fact I know I'd probably do something pretty stupid and die if I didn't have anyone to live for. I was just worried. _

_I don't want to hear a word about this letter at school. Or ever. Just do me a favor and move on from it, okay? You could probably tell I'm already trying to_.

~!~!~

Marik stared at the letter for the longest time, reading without understanding a few times after the initial read.

The simple way he puts it… is almost scary. The fact he can write this way about something that so obviously and _seriously _affected him was terrifying. It's like he's detached from himself - like he's writing an explanation about a character from a book he's read. Did he not realize how troubled he looked back in that car? How agonizing, how trapped, how _tortured?_ No, he knew, he had to know, he just didn't want to seem more "weak." And because of that, he wouldn't dare answer any more questions Marik had, or talk about how traumatizing it actually _is_.

Damn you, Bakura…

* * *

"I'm home."

Kaiba announced as he did every time he came home to his prestigious mansion. Just like always, Mokuba yelled his name, "Seto!" and laughed as he ran and hugged his legs. "I missed you!"

"I missed you, too, Moki," he replied, just as he always does as he ruffles his hair in the usual way and gives him a smile specially reserved for him. "Shall we have dinner now?"

"Yeah!" Mokuba smiled up at him and grabbed his hand, dragging him along. "Come on! I want to tell you about my day!"

Kaiba chuckled a little, following after him. It was quite refreshing, being able to come home everyday and talk with someone who just wanted his company instead of his brain. He didn't get enough of it, that he knew, but he got enough to survive.

It was a comfort to sit down and listen to Mokuba ramble on and on about practically useless things, talking in an animated way to make it more interesting. Or perhaps he really did just find it that interesting, it was hard to say sometimes. He could pick up little key points here and there - how he fought off cooties from a girl at school, beat that level he had been agonizing over for months, and how he got a gold star on his test for being the only one to get a 100% on their math test. He was glad to hear Moki's life was going well.

Much too soon, it was time to say goodnight. Kaiba still had a bit of work to do, after all. He knew Mokuba wasn't happy with how much he worked, but what could he do?

"Hey, Mokuba," Kaiba addressed his brother right before the little boy could walk into his room to get ready for bed.

"Yeah?" he turned around, a hopeful smile on his face.

"You know that girl, Ryou, from the cell phone store?"

"... Yeah?" Mokuba tilted his head, wondering where this was going. His brother could tell that was a boy, right? Or maybe he couldn't and, and he asked "her" out on a date?! He didn't know whether to feel happy for his brother or grossed out.

"I hired her to babysit you this weekend," Kaiba finished, much to Mokuba's dismay.

"What?!" He whined, frowning. "Seto, don't you think I'm getting a bit _old_ for a sitter anyway?!"

"Considering I don't trust you near the stove after that one breakfast fiasco, yes."

"It's not my fault we have sensitive smoke detectors…"

"Of course." Kaiba smiled a little and ruffled his hair again. "You liked her, right? I'm sure she'll be a good match for you."

"Yeah, yeah…" Mokuba sighed, looking down at the ground. He didn't want another sitter, he wanted his brother… Looks like he'd just have to get rid of another one. He couldn't help but wonder how many he'd have to get rid of before his brother got the message, though.

"Good night, Moki," Kaiba told him, leaning down to give him a hug.

"Sweet dreams, Seto," he mumbled back to him, trying to smile. He should be happy with what little time he _did_ get with his brother, not feeling sad!

"You too, kiddo." Kaiba let go and stood up, giving a final smile as he walked away. Down the hallway and to his office, where he'd be stuck doing boring paperwork. He'd probably be up all night again, and won't be any fun to talk to in the morning… But at least he would get his hug before he left.

That was something, at least.

* * *

It was a dark, peaceful night as hardworking students laid down their weary heads to catch some shuteye before going back to the daily grind. The only one that had anything to say at the time in the day were the night owls, both literal and figurative, and the crickets which always seemed bored, if you asked Ryou. They were good to listen to as he fell asleep usually, but tonight they just helped him to stay more awake. He already couldn't stop thinking about Bakura, and the noisy bugs certainly weren't helping.

He took a deep, quiet breath and sighed, turning onto his side. Bakura… he had been so worried, yet he tried so hard not to show it. Who does he think he's fooling? He's just making those involved feel more frustrated… How could he ask his brother what was wrong if he refused to admit that there was a problem? All through the evening he wouldn't let Ryou finish articulating a single question, and for dinner he insisted on eating in front of the TV so he could watch a rerun of his favorite soap opera. He knew it was just an excuse not to talk to him, but still… It was getting _really_ annoying. He was just worried about him! Didn't he have a right to be?!

"Come on Bakura…" He turned on his back, staring up at the ceiling. "Let me in for once…"

He wished, not for the first time, that they could be little kids again. Little kids without a care in the world, with their mom and dad to take care of them, and when Bakura would actually tell him at least a little bit of what he was feeling… Why was he so afraid? He wouldn't think any less of him! No one would! It's _human_ to feel different emotions, especially pain and sadness! Why didn't he understand that? Why did he always feel this need to conceal himself? Why did he not want to _feel?_

Ryou groaned, becoming to restless and sitting up in his bed. It was so quiet that he could feel his heart beat, and perhaps that was what made him stand up, grab his pillow, and walk to his brother's room. He had a feeling he wouldn't be sleeping yet, but just in case, he opened his door quietly and only poked his head in at first. "Bakura?" he whispered. "Are you awake?"

"Yeah." His reply came almost immediately, his body flipping around from underneath the covers so he could look at him. He had actually been wide awake, his brain deciding to torment him with thoughts of car rides gone wrong and loneliness.

"Can I…" Ryou hugged his pillow close, walking in since he was sure he wouldn't be denied. "Can I sleep with you tonight?"

It was silent for a moment - just a moment. They hadn't slept in the same bed in a very long time, but Bakura would be lying if he said he hadn't missed it. And he'd also be lying if he said he hadn't _actually _been considering going over to Ryou's room to ask the same thing mere moments ago. "... Yeah, of course." He started scooting onto the other side of the bed, and Ryou quickly secured his place next to him, curling up a little and smiling at him.

"Thanks."

"You're welcome."

They closed their eyes, ready to go to sleep as they enjoyed the other's company. It was nice to just lay next to someone as you fall asleep - peaceful, and calming. Besides, if Ryou couldn't be there for his brother in any other way, at least he could show him that he wasn't alone. At least he could show him that no matter what, nothing could take away their bond - not a crazed maniac, not an emotional disconnect, not another friend, not even each other.

They were stuck for life, even if they haven't been able to spend much time together.

And that was just how they wanted it.

* * *

(1): This is a common phrase amongst me and my best friend XD Something like, "Intelligence is obviously working here," or just "Intelligence" when there is none XDD

(2): For Kaiba's "business" card, I made up an address and phone number. I wasn't sure how Japan's street systems or phone numbers work, but I looked up the formatting and they looked something like that? It was a bit confusing OTL So I'm sorry if it's written wrong! If you know could you please tell me?

Hey guys, I'm back! XD There was an Alice in Wonderland reference in here - can you spot it? ("Of course we could, Annzy, it was so obvious" XDD). Also: Conceal… don't feel… put on a show.

FROZEN, AW YEAH~ XD

Heheh, anyway guys, thanks for reading! I'm sorry this took so long, I really have no excuse… So I just hope you enjoyed it ^^ It's my birthday present to you, on my birthday, the fifteenth! :) So VERY MERRY UNBIRTHDAY TO YOU~

~~~{REVIEW REPLIES}~~~

**Tiggerbear3**: Awww, thanks! I'm glad you liked it :) I do love crafting this story XD Though you should give other Yu-Gi-Oh! fics a chance! A lot of them are amazing :D I'm sorry I don't update fast enough, but I will try my hardest to keep up the good work ^^ Thank you for reviewing! :)

**Guest1**: Thank you very much! :D I'm glad you love it! Because I love it, too! So it's nice to share ^^ Thank you for reviewing :)

**Guest2**: Thank you! :) I'm glad you're loving it ^^ I'm sorry I didn't update soon, but I hope you enjoy this anyway *hopeful smile* Thank you for reading and reviewing!

**Anon**: XD I'll just tell you right now that it's not Mariku, I'm very sorry to disappoint you XD When Yami Marik comes in, I'm planning to make that the last "arc" of the story, just so you know :) I hope you enjoy the story regardless! And thank you for reviewing :)


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